Can You Feel My Heart
by sangheilitat117
Summary: Can you hear the silence, can you see the dark? Can you fix the broken, can you feel my heart? Can you help the hopeless? Well, I'm begging on my knees, can you save my bastard soul? Will you wait for me? The story of Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee, and how they fell in love.
1. Prologue - Shattered Moon

_**In your lifetime you will find and meet one person who will love you more than anybody you have ever known and will know. They will love you with every bit of energy and soul. They will sacrifice, surrender and give so much that it scares you. Someday you'll know who that is. **_

* * *

_It's the world I've grown to know  
Unforgiving and so cold  
Take it away  
Take it away  
I don't want it_

_It's a life I'm forced to live_  
_I've got nothing more to give_  
_Take it away_  
_Take it away_  
_I don't want it anymore_

* * *

Weiss Schnee sat at a massive, ornate dinner table in a grand hall, methodically and gracefully cutting her meal into proper portions with precisely the right utensil. The crystal chandelier hanging overhead was outrageously expensive, and yet it felt crushingly oppressive to her.

_"Salad fork on the left, dinner fork besides the plate. To the right, knife, salad knife, spoon, soup spoon, then oyster fork. Cut the meat slowly, make it small and un-presumptuous. Don't make eye contact. Don't speak unless spoken to. Hold your bearing." _

"-isn't that right Weiss?" The man seated at the head of the table asked. He was tall and thin, and his eyes were cruel and full of malice. His gaze was expectant, and the silence seemed to hang in the air while he waited for her response.

"Yes dear. You're quite correct." Her voice was bland and dry; she was simply going through the motions of being the proper wife. _Of being the proper slave._

"Hmmph. Of course I am. Now like I was saying, red dust prices are actually _falling_ with the turn of the season and with the new advances in..."

She tuned her husband out as she focused on eating her dinner the proper way.

_"Don't make eye contact. Don't speak unless spoken to. Hold your bearing."_

After all, her husband was entertaining guests, and if she acted improperly she knew he would hit her again. And as much as it pained her to admit, he was getting worse. The painful slaps were steadily evolving into bruising punches, and she knew that real beatings would soon follow after that, as the man solidified his position as head of the Schnee family more and more. He had recently married into the family, her father more satisfied than ever before, now that he knew his legacy would continue, that his investment had finally paid off. That's all she was to him.

_An investment._

She was her husband's slave now, completely at his beck and call. She had become a boot-licking, cowering, subservient _sycophant_, and she hated it with every fragment of her remaining willpower. She couldn't resist him; it was too late now. The consequences were too horrible to think of, he would have her disowned, humiliated, and most likely killed. That is, after he was done with her, done punishing her his own way. The man had a sadistic streak a mile wide.

She shuddered imperceptibly, thinking back, wondering just how her life had become this despicable farce. After she had finished her education as a Huntress at Beacon Academy, she had returned to the world of politics and backstabbing from whence she came. Promptly, her father had married her off to another wealthy family, just as she knew he would. He was dying, and he wanted to ensure his line would continue on, that Schnee Dust would persist as the world's foremost provider of dust and dust-related products. He hadn't given a second thought for her well-being.

Ruby had begged her not to go, she had sobbed and tried to drag her back and to...

Wait... Ruby...

Ruby.

_Ruby!_

* * *

Weiss woke from her nightmare with a sudden start, sitting up suddenly and almost hitting her head on the bunk hanging from ropes above her. Where Ruby lay, sound asleep. In their room, back at Beacon Academy. Halfway through their third year.

She shuddered, the horrible vision of what might come to be refusing to leave her tortured mind. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand, noticing in passing that her delicately pale skin was coated in a slight sheen of sweat.

4:16 AM. She still had a few hours before classes. The shattered moon shone in through the window, highlighting her snow-white hair and lending it an unearthly glow.

She laid back down, shifted slightly, and attempted to return to sleep. But still, the memories would not leave her. She felt anxious, as she always did when thinking about her fate after Beacon. What would become of her? What would become of Ruby? She had found something here, something she had never experienced before. Something she didn't want to give up.

Friendship, warmth, laughter, the camaraderie that came with having a small group of tight-knit friends. And the trust that came with being someone's partner in the heat of combat, knowing that you would give your life for them and that they would do the same for you. Over the years, she and Ruby had grown incredibly close, both as partners and friends. They still teased each other, and Weiss still called her a dolt, and a dunce, and a colossal idiot, but it was all just that. Teasing. Weiss treasured Ruby, she was the older girls first and best friend. And as much as Weiss still lectured Ruby on her combat skills, and her studies, and her eating habits, and her mannerisms, and her, well you get the idea. All that aside, Weiss knew she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that Ruby was quickly growing to be one of the best Huntresses the world of Remnant had ever seen.

But still, the brunette held a small amount of mystery to her. There was something about Ruby; just being around her was enough to soothe her anxieties and worries, and fill her with a strange feeling of warmth and peace. Sometimes, being near Ruby even served to make her heart beat slightly faster, and her blood to pump through her body with more force than usual. She figured that was just what happened though, when two people were as close as they were. Partners, both in combat and out of it.

She didn't want it to ever end: she didn't want to ever be apart from Ruby. She had imagined, and already experienced a world without Ruby, and it wasn't one she wanted to be a part of. She hadn't realized it before, but looking back she saw that her life had been filled with loneliness and bitter cold. She had been raised by her tutors and her maids, all of whom had been instructed to only interact with her just as much as was necessary. As for her parents, she only saw them when they needed something or when they wished to instruct her on the importance she held to the Schnee Dust company. But she had always found herself wondering: did she hold any importance to them as a person? As a daughter? As a young girl growing up with no friends and no one to confide in, she had grown bitter and harsh, slow to trust and quick to anger.

But then things had changed. She met a girl. A clumsy, impulsive, kind, caring, wonderfully sweet girl named Ruby Rose. And for some strange reason, this girl seemingly wanted nothing more than to be friends with her. But she had met people like that before. The memories were sour in her mind, the ones of her so-called "friends." So Weiss had done her best, week after week, month after month to push her away, certain that the brunette was only interested in her because of her status as heiress to the richest company in the world. But that had been years ago. Now, things were different. Ruby had broken down her walls and shown her how to live. She had shown her how to laugh at someone else's jokes, to be patient with someone else's shortcomings, and to be proud of someone else's success.

Being around Ruby felt so different from everywhere and everyone else. To the rest of the world, she was Mistress Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. They all expected something from her. For her to act proper, for her to curtsy at the expected times, for her to be the best at everything she did. And that's where Ruby was different. The younger girl didn't expect _anything_ from her. To her, she was simply Weiss, her partner and her best friend. And she seemed happy simply to be around her.

Weiss truly felt as if she was a different person now, and so much so for the better. Now that she knew what life was really like, she never wanted to go back to the bitter and uncaring world of... well, Schnee. She knew her parents would eventually force her into a marriage she didn't want any part of; her desires and dreams came after the well-being of the company. When she was younger, before she knew any better, she had begrudgingly accepted it.

But now she knew, because of being exposed to different views and walks of life. She knew that her parents forcing her to marry someone that she didn't love was _wrong_. And yet she continued sending them weekly status reports, full of her successes and achievements. She knew the second that they felt that their investment was being wasted, they would pull her out of the school. She was walking on thin ice. And she was tired of it.

Through it all, Ruby was her rock. It had taken her a long time to open up, until she felt comfortable enough around Ruby to let the other girl in, to burden her with the story of her life and her troubles. But Ruby had waited patiently with that same honest smile she always wore. She became her solid ground, the person she could confess her fears and her worries to. And Ruby would simply listen with a caring and understanding smile on her face, the same one that made the heiress feel strangely warm on the inside. Ruby was the first and only person she had ever let in, and the thought made her somehow happy. Would it be wrong if she never let anyone else in but Ruby? She felt somewhat... possessive almost, of her partner. Maybe if she only ever confided in Ruby, maybe that was all right. Maybe that was all she needed.

So as she lay there in her bed, trying in vain to shut out the nightmarish visions of what her life would be like after she left Beacon, and left Ruby, she knew that there was only one thing that would soothe her mind.

Carefully, she slipped out of her sheets and stood up on her tip-toes, her head barely reaching over the edge of Ruby's top bunk. And there she was, Ruby Rose, huntress-in-training. The moon shone through the curtains, illuminating one half of Ruby and hiding the other in shadow. She gripped Ruby's bed with her fingers, holding herself in place so that she could gaze upon her leader. Weiss ran her eyes up and down the younger girl's sleeping form, tracing its contours and curves even as she felt heat rising to her cheeks.

_"This is... okay... It's normal for partners to want to know more about eachother... even eachother's bodies... right?"_

The girl had grown during their time at beacon, in more ways than one. She was much taller, coming in at almost six feet. She had also grown in the... chest area. She would never admit it, but Weiss was quite jealous of Ruby's growth. In both areas. She was still just as short as ever, and just as, well, you get the idea.

The brunette lay on her back, one arm behind her head and the other laid across her chest. She breathed slowly, her chest rising and falling peacefully. She was still wearing the same sleepwear as always: a black tank top and a pair of pink-spotted white pajama pants. No matter how many times Weiss had attempted to persuade her to buy new pajamas, she never listened. Ruby tended to form strong attachments to things, even things as trivial as clothes or pencils.

The simple sight of her partner and friend sleeping peacefully was enough to set her mind at ease. A small smile graced her face. At that point in time, everything seemed alright, no matter what the future had in store. She stayed that way for a few minutes, lost in the moment. Something about Ruby made her feel calm, even safe in a way. Maybe it was the scent of roses that seemed to constantly emanate from her.

Her legs eventually grew tired though, and she slowly lowered herself down to her own bed. Slipping back under the covers and laying sideways, she realized that she felt calm now. Calm enough for sleep. Even though the clock now read 4:27AM, she knew that the few remaining hours of sleep she got would be dreamless and peaceful. Sighing softly, she rested her head upon her pillow and slowly drifted off to sleep. The last conscious thought on her mind was of how blessed she was to have met Ruby. Not that she would ever admit it to anyone though, least of all the brunette herself.

Still... no one would hear her now, right? Everyone else was fast asleep...

"Thank you, Ruby," she whispered.

* * *

_**This takes place within the little AU I came up with; this is basically the prequel to Bloodbirds and A White Nebula. Same Ruby and same Weiss, same Blake and same Yang. I apologize for this being only two thousands words, I normally try to keep my chapters between five and seven thousand. But this is a prologue, an attention-grabber and a stage-setter, and I felt right about putting this out. Also, this story is my chance to kill off Sun and Neptune. Because Monty doesn't know what he's doing by not making Bumblebee canon, and I have to remedy that. (evil laughter) **_

_**It's gonna be rated T, there will be violence but nothing too graphic. No lemons of course, even if the themes might get a little *gasp* suggestive.**_

_**The lyrics in the description are from "Can You Feel My Heart" by Bring Me The Horizon. Oh, and the lyrics from the beginning are from the song "Generation Dead" by Five Finger Death Punch. They were really what inspired my view of how Weiss is bitter and jaded with the world she's forced to live in. DON'T take these bands as an indication of my musical preferences, I listen to heavier and more obscure stuff than that. **_

_**Combatflaps, on tumblr and on this site, drew me this amazing cover image.**_

_**Any feedback is welcome, ways I can improve, little errors I missed, etc.**_

_**Please review!**_


	2. Chapter 1 - Denial

Mmm, sleep. Sleep was sooo nice. Was there really anything better than being wrapped in warm sheets and blankets while the world outside slumbered? That feeling of knowing that you didn't have to get up anytime soon, that you could sleep just as long as you wante-

~BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP~

Ruby groaned in frustration, reaching out her hand and smashing it down onto her scroll in a delusional attempt to stop the ear-shattering alarm. Why wasn't her password working? She sat up in an attempt to get a clear view of the screen, so that she could make proper use of the infernal device and its rarely-functioning touchpad. Typing in the code quickly, she ducked her head, a pillow thrown from the other side of the room narrowly missing her. Finally, the incessant beeping stopped.

"Alright alright Yang, it's..." she covered her mouth as she let out a long and drawn-out yawn, "it's off now. Happy?"

The blonde simply grunted and muttered something inaudible from her spot in Blake's bed, where she currently lay with her arms wrapped around her faunus girlfriend. Even in her tired, half-awake state, the sight brought a small smile to Ruby's face.

She flopped backwards onto her bed, knowing that she had to start getting ready for classes, but wanting to spend as much time as possible doing exactly the opposite. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, running the risk that they might not open again. She heard movement from below her, and then a sharp flick to her forehead brought her out of her reverie.

"Owww," she muttered. Weiss was standing on her own bed, bringing her face level with Ruby's. The brunette swallowed in apprehension as she momentarily lost herself in the other girl's gorgeous ice blue eyes.

_"Not now Ruby, holy crap you haven't even gotten out of bed yet!" _

"You woke me up too you dolt. Now get up, we are _not_ going to be late for class again."

"Oh come on, we weren't really late. Professor Merlin hadn't even started the class yet."

"That's because he was waiting for us! Now get! Out of bed, let's go!"

Ruby groaned and rolled off her bunk, barely managing to catch herself on the edge of it as Weiss shrieked in surprise. She hung on for a few seconds, giving the heiress time to scramble out from under her. Ruby then let herself drop, lying flat on her back on the floor.

"Weiiiiss, drag me to the bathroooomm..."

"N-no you useless thing! Do it yourself!"

The brunette sighed pitifully, and began to slowly inch her way towards the bathroom, moving herself by pushing off with her legs and sliding along the floor on her back.

Weiss simply stood there in her nightgown, unable to comprehend the scene before her. She remembered a time when Ruby had been the first one awake, blowing her infuriating whistle and urging the rest of the team to get up. Those days had passed however. Her enthusiasm had faded; Ruby had simply grown tired of waking up so early on weekdays. Such a thing tended to happen after one was forced to wake up early for three years in a row.

"Since when did you become part worm? I guess it figures though, you accomplish just about as much as one of those disgusting creatures does in its lifetime."

Ruby gave no reply as she drew closer and closer to the bathroom.

Huffing in exasperation and brushing some loose strands of hair out of her face, Weiss turned to the rest of team RWBY, who were apparently still sound asleep.

"Blake, Yang, it's time to get up."

No response.

She walked closer, skin tingling at the warmth that Yang exuded while she was wrapped around Blake. A small part of Weiss was intensely jealous of the faunus girl, envious that she had someone who would do that for her, would hold her close at night and keep her warm during those lonely hours.

"Yang. Blake. Get up."

Still nothing.

She sighed, knowing there was only one thing she had to fall back on, and fully aware of the possible consequences. An heiress has to do what an heiress has to do, however. She strode across the room to her dresser and pulled out a pair of scissors, a menacing glint in her eyes. She walked back over to her two teammates, and carefully, ever so carefully, pinched a small lock of Yang's hair in between her thumb and forefinger. She brought the scissors up to it. She opened the blades, and they made a small sound.

***shunk***

A fist exploded out from the bundle of blankets on Blake's bed, one that Weiss barely managed to dodge as she threw herself sideways. Yang leaped out of bed, taking up her boxing stance and readying herself to fend off any and all challengers. Her eyes roamed the room, narrowing as they alighted upon the scissors that Weiss held.

"You got a death wish Schnee?" All trace of sleep in her voice was gone.

"Hmmph. As if I would ever allow myself to be beaten by a simple brute like you," Weiss said with an up-turned nose.

"Oh I didn't say beaten. I used the word death for a reason," Yang replied with a sadistic grin. "Ruby! Sorry but I'm about to kill your girlfriend!"

A muffled cry of "She is not my girlfriend!" came from the closed bathroom door.

Weiss tried and failed to keep a blush from forming on her pale features, coloring her face with its intensity. That could never happen, not in a million years. For one, she wasn't a lesbian. She simply _wasn't_. She could only imagine what her parents would do if she came out. And two, she didn't like Ruby like that. At least, that's what she told herself every time her heart beat faster around her partner.

She chucked the scissors at Yang, who fell over laughing as she struggled to support herself on Blake's bed. The faunus was awake at this point, and she watched the proceedings from her little blanket cave, her golden eyes glimmering in the shadows.

"Oh man, you are way too easy Princess!"

Weiss marched right past her, muttering a choice selection of insults under her breath as she passed the blonde. In her embarrassment, she had forgotten that the bathroom was currently occupied, and she flung the door open in her haste. And there was Ruby, in her panties and nothing else, with a shocked expression on her face as she tried to cover her ample chest.

"H-heya Weiss..."

The heiress slammed the door shut, speed-walked to her bed and covered her head with her pillow. Her face was redder than a tomato.

Yang was crying tears of laughter at this point.

* * *

"~Breakfast time, breakfast time, come on everybody it's breakfast time~" Ruby sang as she led the way down the hallways of Beacon Academy. Her teammates walked with her, on their collective way to Beacon's cafeteria for the best meal of the day. Yang held Blake's hand, and Weiss walked slightly behind Ruby as they followed the tide of hungry students.

"Ooh, I'm gonna get pancakes, and a sausage patty, and eggs, and- oh I hope they have apples today!"

"Great Ruby, now you jinxed it for everyone," Yang laughed. "Watch, it's gonna be pears."

Ruby stuck her tongue out in disgust, "Ew... they've got those nasty little pellet things inside them."

"Those are called sclereids," Weiss interrupted. "They protect the seeds of the pear so that fruit-eating animals don't eat them all. And they're certainly healthier for you than cookies."

"Yeah, but eating cookies doesn't make it feel like there's sand in my mouth."

"Keep up your eating habits, and one day it will. You'll need dentures, mark my words."

"She's probably right Ruby," Blake said. "I'm constantly amazed that you've somehow managed to avoid cavities so far."

"Oh, so now you're on her side?!" Ruby exclaimed, as she narrowly avoided colliding with a bull faunus heading the other way. "Sorry!"

"The only side I'm on is my own," Blake replied. Yang shot her a hurt look, but the twinkle in the faunus' eyes and the squeeze she gave her hand quashed her worries.

"Ruby versus the world, round one!" The brunette cried. After a few seconds of silence, she turned to her partner. "So Weiss, why are we so grumpy today anyway? Don't you remember what today is?"

"Ooh, let me guess, don't tell me," the white-haired girl replied. "It's... friday," she finished, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No silly, this is the day when we move into our new rooms, remember? It'll be just me and you!"

"Oh, r-right." For some reason, the thought of sharing a room with Ruby and only Ruby made her nervous. Which was strange, because she'd been partners with the girl for almost three years already. She felt heat rising to her cheeks yet again, and not for the first time she bemoaned her pale complexion and how visible it made her blushes. She pushed forward, walking in front of the others so that they couldn't see her face. "Now if you'll stop dilly-dallying, I'd like to actually eat breakfast before they close."

Ruby fell back a bit, taking the opportunity to observe the heiress while she walked. The white-haired girl sashayed her hips from side to side, ponytail bouncing in time with her movements. She swung her arms back and forth, and it went nicely with the pointed clicks her heels made on the tiled floor.

_"Wooowww, she's so beautiful..."_ Ruby thought to herself.

"See somethin' ya like?" Yang whispered in her ear.

Ruby jumped, blushing intensely as she stared straight ahead. "W-what are you talking about, hah hah! I just really like the way they did the walls in this hallway..."

"Could've fooled me" Yang said with a knowing smirk. "It looked like you were looking at Weiss."

"Don't be silly Yang," Ruby finished as they entered the cafeteria proper, glancing around to find Team JNPR waving them over to a half empty table. "It's nothing."

Yang followed, but turned to share a mischievous grin with Blake. In all honestly, the only people who weren't aware of the attraction between Ruby and Weiss, were Ruby and Weiss.

* * *

Ruby plopped her tray down on the table, barely managing to catch her apple before it rolled off. "Hi guys!" She greeted warmly. The background noise of the cafeteria was comfortable, a constant reminder that they were not the only students attending Beacon Academy. However, the dark stone walls and dim lighting were quite the opposite. They seemed almost as if they would be the setting for some great and terrible battle.

"Heya Ruby!" Nora responded, as the rest of Team RWBY set their trays down. "How's the morning going?"

"Eh, same as usual. What about you guys?"

"Nora was actually quiet for once. Until now. Thanks," Ren dryly stated.

"Oh please, I know you get all sad when I don't chat up your ear-holes!" Nora said, as she flung her arms around Ren, who just continued to eat tater-tots with his fork. If one looked hard enough however, they would notice the beginnings of a smile on his face.

"Juane and I have had a pleasant morning so far. We rose early and got our training out of the way," Pyrrha said. Jaune nodded his head in agreement; his mouth was currently full of a sausage-egg hash.

"Yeesh, it's like everyone gets up early these days except for us. I don't know how you all do it, I need my beauty sleep," Yang said with a large grin.

"Technically," Blake interjected, "it's not beauty sleep if you snore during the course of it."

"Hey!"

"...That's it?" Blake asked. "Hey? Couldn't think of a better come-back than that?"

"Well... maybe if you give me a bit," Yang replied sullenly.

"Seriously? Yang Xiao Long, the pun queen herself, lord of wit and snarky banter, is speechless? Oh, how the mighty have falle-"

Yang pressed a kiss to the faunus' mouth, grabbing the collar of her uniform and pulling her into it. She then let go, leaving the other girl flustered and struggling for breath.

She smirked. "Now who's speechless?"

"Yang, not in the middle of all these people..."

"Had to shut you up somehow," she said, with a bright smile that somehow served to calm the faunus down.

"Oh really?" Blake replied. "Well you're gonna pay for that later."

"I'm quaking in my boots."

"You would be if you knew what was coming."

"Hmm. We'll see about that. Oh, look everyone, it's Beacon's weirdest couple."

All eyes seemingly went to Ruby and Weiss, which sent them scooting away from each other with panicked expressions.

"She's not-"

"We're not-"

"Wow, calm down you two, I was talking about the people behind you. Gosh, you two really are so easy," Yang said with a laugh.

"Oh, r-right," Ruby laughed. She looked behind her, only to see Penny pop a tater tot into Velvet Scarlatina's open mouth.

"I have no clue how they got together," Jaune said.

Nora smiled at the pair. "Yeah, no one really knows, but they're cute anyway."

No one else saw, but Ruby and Weiss both snuck a glance at each other at the same time, both quickly looking away when they locked eyes with each other.

Well, no one but Yang saw. The blonde smirked as she looked down at her food, wondering if she should bring up the topic with Ruby, or wait until Ruby brought it up on her own. Probably option one, she didn't know if her younger sister would be bold enough to seek help on her own, for a problem that she didn't even acknowledge as existing in the first place.

"Clueless, clueless Ruby," she whispered to herself. Yang's opinion of the irritable heiress was still not exactly favorable, but she was Ruby's partner, so that was enough for her. And she made Ruby happy, for the time being at least. So for now, she would tolerate their clueless excuse for a relationship. Still, she reminded herself, she had raised Ruby. Her younger sister was _hers_, and whoever wanted to take her away would be in for a fight.

_"Do your worst, Weiss Schnee."_

* * *

Ruby sighed in satisfaction, flopping backwards onto her new bed. Classes were done for the day, and Ruby and Weiss had just finished moving into their new room. Only first and second year teams had to share one room with all four members; third and fourth year students were given smaller rooms to share with their partners. Most of the other third year students had already switched over, but due to construction delays, Team RWBY was just now receiving theirs.

The dorm she was now sharing with Weiss was small, but not cramped, cozy and not constricting in the slightest. There was a bed on either wall, with a large, wide window taking up most of the space between the beds. At the foot of each bed was the entrance to a closet, each one capable of holding all the outfits the two girls would require. The walls were the strangest part of the room though; they were all painted a light, stormy grey.

"I dunno Weiss, don't you think the color is a little... depressing?"

"No, I happen to like it," the heiress said as she finished straightening the white sheets of her own bed.

"You like it?" Ruby parroted. "Why?"

"...I've just always liked that color. Nothing special." She couldn't bring herself to say that they matched Ruby's eyes, and that's why she refused to paint them another color. "Shouldn't you be unpacking anyway, instead of lounging around?"

"Sheesh Princess, I already finished."

"You know not to call me that."

"I'll call you whatever I want," Ruby replied snarkily.

"Alright then, go ahead. Just don't be surprised if every box of cookies you bring in here disappears without a trace," Weiss said as she finished and sat on the edge of her bed.

Ruby sat up, an expression of horror on her face "You wouldn't!"

The heiress simply smiled back, a wicked thing with no trace of warmth. "Try me."

Ruby let herself fall back again, flinging her arms out to either side. "I admit defeat..."

"Good. Now, are you ready for training?"

_"Oh no she's not,"_ Ruby frantically thought to herself. _"This is gonna be the perfect weekend, she is not ruining this."_

The brunette vanished in a cloud of rose petals, appearing right next to Weiss. The startled girl jumped, and found a warm finger pressed to her lips.

"No. Nope, naw, nah, negatory, negative, no sir, no sir-_ee_, no, nonono, no, no. No. We are noooot, going to do any combat training this weekend. You agreed to go into town with me, remember! We haven't been in like two whole months!"

"Yes, but we need to-"

"Uh uh uh! No buts! We're going out tonight, and that's final," Ruby said, as she firmly crossed her arms over her chest.

_"G-going out? Like a date?"_ Weiss thought to herself. _"No, that's absolutely preposterous. My reputation would be ruined. This is just two friends hanging out on the weekend."_

It wasn't really anything new, they had taken jaunts out from Beacon before. But this was the first time Ruby had, unknowingly or not, referred to it as a date.

"Well... I suppose I wouldn't be particularly opposed to it or anything... but that means you're studying extra hard on Saturday!"

"Sunday."

"Saturday!"

"Sunnndaaayy," Ruby drawled with a grin. "I'm just gonna relax on Saturday, and you're just gonna have to deal with it. But I promise you," she said as she got down on her knees, clasped her hands together and put on her best puppy dog stare, "we'll study super uper duper hard on Sunday. Deal?"

Weiss stared down at her, her left eyebrow twitching angrily. She tried her best to resist, she really did. But one simply couldn't say no to Ruby when she sounded that sincere, that honest.

"...Deal."

"Yaaay!" Ruby leapt up, tackling Weiss backwards onto her bed and hugging her tightly. "We're gonna have so much fun in Vale City-"

"D-dolt! Get off me!" Weiss shrieked. It was happening again, she could feel her heart-rate speed up and blood rush to her face, and she prayed that Ruby wouldn't notice. The brunette held her for a few extra moments, and Weiss found it almost difficult to think. Right before it would have become awkward, Ruby released the heiress and drew back.

"Heh, sorry. I'm just really happy and excited for tonight."

"...It's fine."

_"Really?"_ Weiss thought to herself._ "It's fine? No comeback, no scolding, no snappy remarks? Ugh, you're losing your touch. But it's too late to say anything else now..."_

Ruby walked back over to her own bed, sitting on top of it and leaning back against the wall.

"This room is pretty nice, huh? Ooh, but we need some decorations. I'm thinking some roses-"

"Ooh, big surprise there," Weiss interrupted sarcastically.

"Don't you get sassy with me Princess," Ruby said as she wiggled her finger back and forth comically. "I bet you'd just put snowflakes everywhere if you could."

"I was actually going to suggest we paint the ceiling a dark blue, and somehow draw stars and planets on it. That way when we sleep and look up, it'll be like gazing at the night sky."

"Huh. That's actually a really good idea. We can do it on Sunday!"

"You are not _seriously_ trying to get out of studying already are you?"

"Eh heh, alright. We can save it for next weekend," Ruby sheepishly agreed.

Weiss stood up. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get changed if we're heading into town tonight."

"Oh, right! Whatcha' gonna wear?"

"That's hardly any of your business," Weiss replied with a smirk as she leaned against the door-frame to the bathroom. "You'll see when I'm done. Now hurry up, I want to make the four o'clock airship."

"Ugh, you and your deadlines."

"I'm sorry, but if we're going to go in to town we're going to spend more than just an hour there. By the way, what do you have in mind while we're there?"

"Well, I was hoping to go weapon shopping, and maybe even look at some decorations for our new room, and oh maybe we could do some clothes shopping, and we could see a movie, and I definitely want to eat at that pizza place that has the-"

"Ruby. You're rambling," Weiss interrupted with a smirk.

"Oh, heh. Oops. So uh, any of those sound good to you?"

"Pizza sounds nice, maybe a movie if we have time. And I suppose I _could_ take you to look at some weapon stores."

"Yay!" Ruby leapt up and wrapped Weiss in another hug, but this time she lost her footing and sent both of them toppling to the floor. The taller girl ended up lying on top of Weiss, her chest smothering the heiress.

She gave a muffled screech, and attempted to force Ruby off of her.

"OhmygodWeissImsosorry!" the brunette yelped as she rolled off of Weiss.

"You s-stupid, inconsiderate, bumbling, clumsy, oaf!" The white-haired girl scrambled to her feet and rushed into the bathroom, nearly slamming the door shut behind her.

Ruby was left leaning up against her bed, a stunned expression on her face. "Oops," she whispered to herself.

Meanwhile in the bathroom, Weiss gazed at herself in the mirror. Her heart was pounding, and that accursed blush had found its way back to her cheeks. She slowly reached up her hand to touch them softly, feeling the warmth they emanated.

_"Why does she do this to me? What is wrong with me?"_

* * *

"Hey Weiss?"

Silence greeted her as the heiress continued to stare out the window of the airship, as it continued on its course towards the city of Vale. Puffy white clouds rolled by the viewport, perfectly matching the crystal-clear blue sky.

"Are you still mad?"

Finally, she spoke. "...I'm not mad Ruby."

"You sure? You sounded pretty... upset when I accidentally tackled you. And you haven't said a word since."

"...I'm fine. Just tired is all. You know how grumpy I get when I'm tired."

"Oh... are you still okay with going into town?"

Sometimes it hit her, like right now, just how far Ruby was willing to go for her. She had yelled at Ruby, given her the silent treatment, and at the mere mention that she might be tired, her partner was immediately ready to cancel her plans and put the heiress' well-being before her own wants. And she knew Ruby very badly wanted to go out tonight. The least she could do was to try and have some fun with her partner.

Weiss turned her head and smiled at the other girl, whose face lit up with happiness at the sight.

"Yes, I'm fine. If you're looking forward to this, then I am too."

"Thanks Weiss. We're gonna have fun, I promise."

* * *

The sun hung low in the sky, shrouding the streets of Vale City in shadow and turning the clouds into streamers of burning orange and pale violet. Burning street lamps already lit the thoroughfares, lending the cobblestone streets an air of warmth and familiarity. Everyone wore happy smiles as they strode along the roadways. Couples held each other close, tourists pointed out shops and landmarks, families struggled to keep up with each other, and children shrieked with happiness as they ran through the streets.

Ruby and Weiss walked slowly down the sidewalk, taking their time and enjoying the welcoming atmosphere of the city as night gradually fell. Weiss was wearing a white sundress that flowed down to her knees with a blue ribbon around its waist, and a matching pair of white heels. Beautiful white diamond earrings framed her delicate face. Ruby was in something a little more casual: an unzipped red hoodie over a black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. Grey sneakers completed her ensemble.

"Oh man, I can't remember the last time I had pizza that good."

"I am not a man," Weiss jokingly replied. "But I agree, the chefs of that restaurant certainly knew their craft. Every one of the ingredients was of very high quality."

"Only you could make pizza sound boring," Ruby laughed. "I mean, even your actual pizza was weird. White sauce and olives? Who eats that?"

"Who eats a pizza covered in every meat known to mankind?" Weiss shot back.

Ruby already had her comeback worked out. "The same kind of person who ever grows taller than five feet," she finished with a smirk.

Weiss gasped at her in a mix of shock and anger, unable to properly formulate a response to Ruby's under-handed tactic. So instead she simply turned up her nose and stared straight ahead as she walked.

"Oh come on Weiss, don't be mad, it was just a jokeee..."

"It was a short joke! You know better than to make short jokes about me!" The heiress turned and glared at her partner, but before she could continue her rant, she found herself swept up in Ruby's arms and twirled around the sidewalk.

She gasped and sputtered, grasping on to Ruby's forearms with a death grip.

"R-Ruby! Put me down this instant!" she shrieked.

Ruby spun her one more time, then gently set her down on the sidewalk. "But you're so cuuute Weiss, you're not short, don't worry! You're more like, fun-sized ya know!"

_"C-cute?!" _Weiss thought to herself. _"Why would she say that about me!?"_

The white-haired girl couldn't think of anything to respond with, and she wondered again why she found herself so often speechless in Ruby's presence.

She huffed and spun around, striding purposefully towards the airship station. Ruby reached out after her, jogging to keep up.

"Wait, I meant like fun-size as in how much fun you are, not that you're like a little candy bar, I just meant that you're really awesome to be around and that you're also really cool and please don't leave yet, we haven't gone to the weapons shop like you said and I just-"

Her speech was cut off as she accidentally bumped into the heiress, who had stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. People streamed to either side of her as they made their way around.

"Why do you have to be such a dunce sometimes?" Weiss asked without turning around. Instead of how she normally phrased the insult, this time she seemed to be asking it as a legitimate question.

Ruby stepped back a few feet, wringing her hands together nervously. "I dunno... I guess I just get, well, nervous around you sometimes?"

"...Nervous? Why do I make you nervous?"

"Uh... because you're... uh... really cool?" Ruby said, which was lie number one. "And I feel like I have to try really hard to be normal, otherwise you won't want to hang out with me anymore," Ruby finished. Lie number two.

Weiss seemed to think for a moment.

"I'm really not that cool Ruby. And I don't really mind how you act around me. Even after two years, it's refreshing to have you treat me like a real person, instead of the heiress of Schnee Dust."

_"Good, she bought it,"_ Ruby thought to herself.

"So I'll try not to make you nervous so much," Weiss finished with a warm smile. The street lamp overhead shone down on her, highlighting her face and lending it a warm glow.

Ruby couldn't help but smile back; she loved Weiss' smiles. They were so rare and so different from her regular expression. Her eyebrows were normally slanted in a sneer or a glare, even when she wasn't annoyed at anything in particular. But when she smiled they went flat, and the harshness left her face, causing her eyes to twinkle. And in Ruby's opinion, it made her all the more beautiful.

And that was when she realized it. The reason she felt so warm around Weiss, the reason she couldn't pull herself away from the other girl, the reason it physically hurt when they were apart for more than a few days. The reason she was so nervous around her. It hit her like a slap to the face, an unquestionable fact that couldn't be argued with.

She was in love with Weiss Schnee.

This wasn't coming out of nowhere, in fact, she had had a strong crush on the white-haired girl for over a year now. It had been bearable though, given that she had gotten to be around her almost every day and that Weiss hadn't shown any interest in anyone else. So Ruby had been content to simply do her best to ignore the feelings she experienced around Weiss; she knew that they could never be together. Weiss wasn't a lesbian, and even if she was, she would never want to be with Ruby. For one, the brunette knew her family would never allow it. And two, she knew that she was simply too clumsy, too stupid, too immature to ever be considered as more than a friend and a partner to the heiress. And it hurt, but she endured. Just as she always had.

She didn't know how much longer she could ignore these feelings though. Not now, not after this realization. _Love_. So this was what romantic love felt like. Was it supposed to hurt like this? She wanted nothing more right now than to hold the other girl close, to meet those beautiful lips with her own and feel their bodies pressed tight up against each other after so long. She wanted to run her finger over Weiss' scar, to tell her how she felt and to lavish her with more affection than the world had ever seen.

But that could never be. So instead, she settled for a simple hug.

She stepped forward and pulled the white-haired girl into a warm embrace. "Thanks Weiss."

It took a few seconds, but Weiss tentatively returned it, lightly wrapping her arms around the taller girl's waist. Yet somehow, it felt wrong to Ruby.

_"Hugs are supposed to make you feel good. They're not supposed to make you hurt on the inside like this..."_ she thought to herself.

So she stepped back and released the other girl, and for some reason it felt far too soon for the heiress. Weiss turned her head to the left, pretending to watch the passers-by on the other side of the street in an attempt to hide her blush.

"So uh... can we go to that weapon store now?"

"Of course," Weiss replied with a warm smile. "Are you alright? You got lost in space there for a second."

"Yeah, I'm just fine," Ruby lied.

* * *

The steady droning hum of the airship was a balm to the heiress' thoughts as it flew steadily towards Vale. Night had fallen, and the dim blue cabin lighting made the passenger compartment feel strange and almost ethereal. She sighed as she gazed out of the viewport, her eyes alighting on the familiar shape of Remnant's shattered moon. The small fragments that were all that remained of the lower right corner drifted along with it, suspended in space by the moon's gravity. It refused to let them go, refused to let them drift away into the uncaring void.

The soft sound of breathing drew her attention and she looked to her left, where Ruby was fast asleep in one of the green cushioned chairs. At her side was a plastic bag, full of new rounds and cleaning gear for Crescent Rose. She remembered how happy Ruby had been, at something as simple as a new cloth to care for her beloved weapon. Gazing at her young leader, unbidden feelings of warmth and nervousness rose to her breast.

_"Why? Is this... a crush? Is that what this is, what this feels like? It certainly is how I've heard it described... but why do I feel this way about her? I'm not a lesbian, I'm simply not."_

Her mind was at war with itself, both sides assaulting and defending each other like opposing armies clashing on the battlefield. She knew Ruby deserved the best, and she also knew that she couldn't be the one to give it to her. She was too cold, too bitter, too _mean_ to ever be able to satisfy her partner. She wasn't like Ruby, who was beautiful both inside and out. Weiss was only beautiful on the outside, and she knew it. Inside was cold and frozen, dark and jaded. She knew what life expected out of her. She knew what her fate would be. Nothing more than an investment to continue the Schnee family line. Ruby deserved better than her.

_"But that's if I was even gay in the first place. Which I'm not."_

She remembered not-too-fondly just how she knew that to be true. She was only thirteen, and she had seen another young girl in a black dress at one of her families balls. She had remarked to her mother on how pretty the young girl was. Then, after a few seconds of contemplation, she had asked her mother if she could ask the girl for a dance. Her mother had looked at her with a horrified expression and knelt down beside her so that no one else could see. Then she had slapped her across the face, bringing tears to the young girl's eyes.

"Weiss Schnee. You are not a lesbian," she said with a stern expression. "No Schnee has ever been gay, and no Schnee ever will. Repeat after me. I am not a lesbian."

"I am not a lesbian," young Weiss had repeated, as she dried her tears on her sleeve.

"I am not a lesbian," Weiss whispered to herself, as she stood in the empty cabin of the airship.

* * *

"Ruby, you are taking _forever_. Are you almost done? I'd like to get changed sometime tonight too!"

A muffled voice replied from beyond the bathroom door.

"Well just get changed in the room then, and tell me when you're done!"

Thoughts of Ruby walking in on her in a less-than-clothed state ran through her mind before she could stop them, and she screwed her eyes shut as she blocked them out.

"As if I would ever be caught _dead_ doing something so indecent. Just hurry up and finish."

The bathroom door opened and Ruby stepped out, rubbing her brown-and-red hair with a towel.

"Holy geez I'm done already, there you go. You are now free to decorate the bathroom with ice as you see fit." she said with a joking smile.

"Hah hah. Hilarious," Weiss replied, as she grabbed her towel and a change of clothes from her bed and stepped inside the bathroom. Even still, she wasn't able to keep a small smile off of her face. The walls of the bathroom were tiled and painted a warm red, almost orange in color. The floor was tan, and felt cold to her bare feet. She closed the door behind her and turned on the shower, glad to see that there was still hot water in the pipes. She undressed and stepped into the running water, letting it wash off all of her worries and fears. For a second, she allowed herself a fantasy. She wasn't Weiss Schnee anymore, heiress of Schnee Dust. No, there under the running water, she simply _was_. Just a girl, free to make her own choices and do as she saw fit. _A girl like Ruby._

_"Augh, why won't she get out of my head!?"_

Frantically, she shampooed and ran her fingers through her hair, desperate for something to take her mind off of her partner. Who was currently in the next room. While she was in here. Naked. The thought brought heat rushing to her cheeks, and she cursed herself.

_"What the hell? I've never thought of that before, why am I doing this now?"_

She finished washing herself quickly, determined to brush her teeth and get into bed as quickly as possible. Sleep would be safe from Ruby; she didn't dream much anymore. Except for last night...

Stepping out of the shower, she quickly dried her hair and body, then slipped into her underwear and nightgown. She grabbed her toothbrush, and after applying toothpaste, began brushing furiously.

After a minute of that, she spat out the toothpaste and washed her mouth out with water. Cleaning her toothbrush, she slotted it back into place and washed her hands.

"Hey Weiss?" The question came from the other side of the door.

_"Not now..."_

"...Yes Ruby?"

"I really had fun tonight. Thanks for going out with me."

"...You're welcome."

_"Thanks for going out with me," _she repeated over and over in her head. Had Ruby meant it that way? That wasn't a date, they didn't go out. They just went out... to town.

She stared at herself in the mirror long and hard, taking in everything. Her furrowed eyebrows, her snow-white hair, loose as it cascaded off her shoulders, her ugly scar, everything.

_"Thanks for going out with me." _No matter how hard she tried to feel something different when replaying Ruby's words in her head, they made her feel warm and happy, nervous and yet not. Butterflies fluttered in her chest, and her throat constricted a little.

"I am not a lesbian," she whispered.

Still, the feelings persisted.

"I am not a lesbian."

Nothing, she felt the same. Slowly, she raised her right hand.

"I am not a lesbian," she whispered again, as if saying it over and over would somehow quash the feelings welling up inside of her.

It didn't work. She held her hand out tentatively, open palm, and then slapped herself across the face. _Hard_.

"I am not a lesbian," she growled.

***slap***

"I am not a lesbian."

***slap***

"I am not a lesbian!" she repeated in a harsh whisper. Tears were gathering in the corners of her eyes now. Why wasn't this working?

***slap***

"I. Am not. A lesbian," she forcefully muttered, shaking with fury and despair, holding her hand up next to her face. She drew it back to slap herself again, but stopped halfway.

"Weiss?" There was a knocking at the door. "Weiss, are you okay? What's that smacking noise? Are you alright?"

She sniffed, and wiped her tears with her palm. "I-I'm fine, I just... dropped my toothbrush. I fell and had to catch myself, but I'm good now." Why did it hurt so much to lie to Ruby?

"O-okay, just... let me know if you need anything, alright? I'm right here."

_"I'm right here,"_ she repeated in her head. _"Curse you Ruby Rose! Why do you have to be so perfect, so kind, so caring, so... there for me? I've never had anyone but myself, I don't need anyone but myself, I certainly don't need you... but then why do I want you so badly?"_

She realized Ruby would grow suspicious if she remained in the bathroom, so she dusted her cheeks slightly with blush to hide the redness. Wiping her tears one final time, she stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to her bed, immediately slipping inside of it and pulling the covers high over her shoulders. She lay on her side facing the wall, her back towards Ruby.

"Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes Ruby, now go to sleep. Tomorrow is your day to relax, remember?"

"Heh heh, right. Hey uh, what are you gonna do tomorrow?"

"...Train, I suppose. Study as well."

"Well... I might join you if I get bored. That okay?"

_"No, it's not okay. I can't even handle being near you anymore. I need to make space between us. I have to. For your sake as much as mine. You don't want this, you don't want me. You shouldn't."_

"Actually, I'd prefer if you left me alone tomorrow. It would let me focus on my training." The words turned to ash in her mouth, and it stung to say them. What hurt even more was the dejected tone of Ruby's reply.

"O-oh. Alright. Well uh... have fun. Goodnight Weiss." There was a rustling noise as Ruby slipped into her sheets and got comfortable.

"Goodnight Ruby." She wanted to say more, wanted to say that she had enjoyed their time together immensely, that she wanted to spend even more together, that she appreciated everything Ruby had ever done for her. But the words caught in her throat, and instead a single tear slipped from the corner of her eye and slid down her face.

_"Why can't I just like some stupid CEO's son? Why does it have to be her? Why does it have to be Ruby?"_

Her mother's bleak voice echoed through her thoughts. _"You are not a lesbian."_

_"Why can't I just be normal?"_

* * *

**_Ouch. This hurt to write. _**

**_Turns out writing regular RWBY at Beacon, as in not some crazy AU, is harder for me than the alternative. This is also a good example of what chapter length should look like from me._**

**_This is also my first time writing team JNPR, so what did you guys think? _**

**_Also, there's some confusion as to how Weiss can be disowned by her family, and yet become the owner of Schnee Dust in the future. Well, when her father dies without an heir, the company passes on to Weiss by default, she being the only surviving member of his bloodline. Simple as that. Don't worry, I'll elaborate much more on that in the future. _**

**_So yeah, please leave a review, and thanks for reading._**


	3. Chapter 2 - Moondust

_**I'm building this house, on the moon  
Like a lost, astronaut  
Looking at you, like a star  
From the place, the world forgot **_

_**And there's nothing, that I can do  
Except bury my love for you **_

_**The brightness of the sun, will give me just enough  
To bury my love, in the Moondust  
I long to hear your voice, but still I make the choice  
To bury my love, in the moondust **_

_**I'm a cast away, and people reap what they sow  
And I say what I know, to be true  
Yeah I'm living far away, on the face of the moon  
I've buried my love to give the world to you **_

_**I've buried my love, in the Moondust**_

* * *

Muted green grass rustled and flowed, blown into a simulacrum of the sea by the sweeping wind. The sky was grey and overcast, the clouds massive and brooding, as if contemplating on whether or not to unleash their precipitation on the world below them. In the middle of a large, secluded clearing Weiss finally stopped, Myrtenaster held at the ready as she caught her breath. She was clad in a white tank top and a pair of black workout shorts. Beads of sweat rolled down her face, and her breathing was heavy and labored as she allowed herself to rest after her latest string of combat exercises. She glanced at her watch and was startled by the time. It was already five in the evening.

She had been training all day, moving from place to place, from sparring field to running track, desperate to calm the roiling storm of thoughts inside her head. Desperate to make sense of her feelings, specifically the ones she had for her leader and partner, Ruby Rose. Yoga, running, swimming, fencing, working out, nothing seemed to help. Normally physical activity, especially with her trusted rapier served to calm her and help her concentrate on the important things in life, and shut out the trivial.

_"But this isn't trivial, is it? To me, Ruby really is the most important thing in my life..."_

Sighing, she lowered Myrtenaster and slipped it into her belt loop, beginning the long trek back to Beacon Academy.

Her thoughts were still troubled, and she stared at the ground as she walked.

What would this be like if she hadn't been raised the way she had? What if her parents had been loving and accepting of whatever choices she had made? What if she was allowed to be herself? With this fresh perspective, she began to re-evaluate her opinion of Ruby.

Her partner had always been there for her, no matter how hard she tried to push her away. No one else made her feel safe and happy like Ruby somehow did. Hell, no one made her feel safe and happy period, except for the brunette. She liked Blake and Yang, well, less the latter sometimes, and they were comfortably friends, but she knew that their bond could be broken.

The one she shared with Ruby was a different matter. You didn't trust someone with your life for more than two years and then just expect to have no lasting connection with them. She felt it, deep down: the bond she shared with Ruby. When Ruby was near her, she could feel her own aura brighten, when it felt the warm and familiar presence of Ruby's own. Colors seemed brighter, and all the bad things in life seemed less important. Ruby cared for her, honestly, Weiss could tell that much.

The younger girl had this infuriating way of making her feel better too. Weiss was normally self-deprecating; no one realized her flaws more than she did herself. But Ruby didn't let her put herself down, or criticize herself. Ruby's compliments were honest and true; they lacked any ulterior motive other than to try to make the heiress feel good about herself.

_Ruby wanted her to feel good_, period.

And that was more than she could say for any other human being she had met in her entire life. Family aside, obligations aside, all that laid to rest, would a relationship with Ruby really be all that bad?

It began to rain, tiny droplets of water plummeting from the unhappy heavens and spattering her outfit with dark spots.

A relationship with Ruby would probably be... nice. She could only imagine how good it would feel to have the taller girl hold her, to have her wrap her up in that beautiful cloak and whisper to her that everything would be okay. To feel her partners skin against her own, to breathe deep the ataractic scent of roses...

But that could only be if Ruby agreed to such a thing in the first place. Weiss was not one to work off of assumptions, and she had no clue as to how deep Ruby's feelings for her truly ran. In her mind, the brunette wouldn't want her anyway. She needed someone just as loving and kind as she was, someone who could truly reciprocate her love. She didn't need, and wouldn't want a brittle girl who pushed people away when they got close, someone who would honestly just be plain _difficult_ to love. Ruby was so free and open, so willing to let people get near to her heart to her that it honestly scared Weiss. She knew she could never be that way, and she didn't want Ruby to end up with someone like her. Ruby deserved better than that.

_"Also, for a relationship to happen, I would actually have to be physically attracted to her. But... if I'm being completely honest with myself..."_ This was hard to admit, even in her own mind. _"I am..." _

In the back of her head, she realized that the list of things preventing her from being with Ruby was gradually getting shorter and shorter.

But even before all of that could be truly be considered, there was still the matter of her family, and her obligations as an heiress. Add that to Ruby's dreams of being a huntress and her need to travel and help people, and Weiss knew a relationship between herself and her partner would never work. These feelings she had, for now she now accepted them as affection for her partner, she would have to let wither and die, like a rose in the winter. The metaphor was apt; she was the cold winter, brutal and uncaring. And Ruby was the rose, delicate and pure. But a rose needs sunlight and rain, something winter sorely lacks and simply cannot provide. The two could not co-exist together.

She had to accept that, as much as it hurt her inside. She cursed herself; that had been the point of these walls she had carefully built up, to never allow anyone to get close enough to cause her pain. And yet here she was, feeling cold and alone in the pouring rain. But her aching solitude wasn't caused by the rain. It was caused by a person, something she swore she would never allow to happen again. And yet, Ruby had gotten close. And not because she had forced herself in, or broken down the heiress' walls with manipulation and fear. She had simply been kind and caring, and Weiss had let her in of her own accord. And now she was feeling the pain she deserved, as someone who shut everyone else out. She knew this pain was her just reward. People reap what they sow, and she knew she had sown only hardship and remorse.

The thought was sobering and lachrymose as she gazed up into the darkening sky and let the rain fall upon her face. She needed to let Ruby go, to forget about her feelings and shut the other girl out, for both their sakes. Yet as she looked up into the grey sky, the only thing she could think of was how they reminded her of Ruby's eyes.

She needed to forget.

_"So why can't I?"_

* * *

Ruby frowned in concentration, scribbling and scratching as she revised the last sentence of her fifteen-page paper on the migratory habits of Beowolves, and what effects that might have on the surrounding populace. She was sitting in her pajamas at the desk in her and Weiss' shared room, which was pressed up against the window. Rain spattered against the window-panes: a pattering sound that calmed her thoughts and helped her focus on her work. Not that she needed much extra help with that these days; her study habits had improved dramatically over the years. Nowadays her grades were at the top of the class, constantly vying for the number one spot with Weiss' and Pyrrha's.

The air inside the room was cool, and she shivered and wrapped her cloak a little tighter around her shoulders while she wrote. She finished the paper and set down her pencil, sighing apprehensively and gazing out through the rain-washed window at the courtyard below. She could only wonder at where Weiss could be. She was worried about her, the image of her partner standing by herself in the rain sending a pang of longing through her heart. Times like these, it physically hurt to be apart from the other girl. Ruby knew it was unhealthy, the intensity of these feelings that she had for Weiss, but there was really nothing she felt could do but try to wait them out.

She had always been drawn to people in need, it was what pushed her so strongly to become a huntress in the first place. When she saw someone hurting, physically or mentally, she felt the inexplicable urge to help them however she could. Some saw it as a weakness. She didn't. In her mind, it was a strength. It gave her the drive to go on when others would have given up long ago. Whenever anyone around her was in trouble or pain, she felt the inexplicable urge to try to help them with their burdens, to lighten the load and assist them however possible. That drive gave her the courage to keep going forward. It made her stronger than others.

And while the heiress might not show it, she knew Weiss was hurting on the inside. There was an old saying she had once heard, "hurt people hurt people." She knew Weiss wasn't cold and defensive for no reason; it was clear to Ruby that she was simply afraid of letting people close to her because she had been hurt in the past. She knew the probable cause too: Weiss' parents. Her partner had talked about them only briefly before, it was a subject she was quick to avoid and hesitant to elaborate upon. But Ruby had been able to gather, through small inferences, crumpled up letters, (that had been sitting out in the open anyway, that was okay right?) and small fragments of conversation heard through closed doors, that the relationship between her and her parents was... strained. At best.

Sure, Weiss put up a convincing front: that of a cold, mature heiress who knew what she wanted and would stop at nothing to achieve it. But Ruby could tell that deep down inside, she just a scared young girl desperately seeking the acceptance her parents had denied her from somewhere else, anywhere else. And more than anything, Ruby wanted to be the acceptance that Weiss secretly craved. She would be anything, whatever Weiss needed, as long as she could hold her tightly and whisper to her that everything would turn out all right. Ruby didn't know exactly when her desire to help Weiss had developed into feelings of attraction, but she did know that they weren't going away anytime soon.

And therein lay the problem, the one she had gone over in her mind a hundred times before. She knew she could never have a relationship with her partner, because obviously, Weiss would never agree to it. Ruby liked to think that she was important to the white-haired heiress, but even she knew she was being delusional if she entertained the notion that Weiss would choose her over her destiny with Schnee Dust. Well, there was that, and the fact that Weiss would never, _ever_, in a thousand years see her in a romantic light.

_"Yeap, stupid, immature, clumsy, Ruby. That's me, king of the dolts." _

Well there was ALL that, aaaand that she was pretty sure that Weiss was straight. As she sat at that desk twirling her pencil between her fingers, a little voice spoke up in her head.

_"Why are you even bothering with all this?"_

_"Yeah, why am I even bothering?"_

_"Because she needs someone," _her mind argued back.

_"Well sure, but it's obviously never gonna be me."_

_"Why not?"_

_"Pssh, I already told you why!"_

_"And do you really believe all of those reasons? Do you honestly believe that she thinks you're stupid, clumsy, and immature? That that's all you're ever gonna be?"_

_"Well... maybe not ALL the time..."_

_"And do you really think she'd choose her duty to her family over you? Given how you KNOW she feels about them?"_

_"Well, maybe not. But she's still straight!"_

_"You think."_

"Ugh, shut up already!" she yelled as she threw her pencil across the room, where it smacked against the wall and fell to the floor. She rubbed her forehead and groaned. "Now I remember why I don't talk to the voices in my head..."

Sighing, she leaned back in the chair, tilting it on its hind legs and hanging her head upside down, gazing at the room from her new inverted perspective.

She was bored. That paper had been the last thing on her to-do list for the day. Completely. Utterly. Bored.

Racking her brain as she swayed back and forth in the chair, she tried to think of something, anything to do. Yang and Blake were out in town doing who-knows-what, and the entirety of Team JNPR was away on a supervised mission, part of the more advanced training that third-year students received. That left... Penny? No, she was out with Velvet. No one knew where Sun's team of douches went on the weekends. She still remembered how Neptune had hit on Weiss when they had first met, and the memory made her clench her fists in anger. Seriously, who did that the first time they met someone?

_"A complete douche-lord, that's who. That kid likes to think he's so smart and so cool, but he's got another thing coming if he tries to go for Weiss again."_

Well, there was still Cardin's team.

_"Yeah... no."_

All this thinking was tiring her out. Eyelids drooping, her gaze was slowly drawn towards her bed. For some reason, the rose-embroidered comforter looked particularly inviting... and now that she thought about it, she hadn't gotten much sleep in the past week. It was only six, but a nap sure would be nice, and hey, she was already in her pajamas.

_"Oorrr, instead of a nap, I can just sleep till Sunday."_

She lazily climbed into bed, not bothering to set an alarm.

_"Goodnight world... and goodnight Weiss, wherever you are."_

And the rain kept pouring.

* * *

Ruby opened her eyes slowly. Something had woken her. And it was still dark. That wasn't good. Groggily, she opened her eyelids, tilting her head and trying to re-introduce her brain to the power of sight. She noticed a sliver of light coming from the door to the hall, which disappeared with a soft click as soon as she saw it. Someone had just entered the room and closed the door.

_"Weiss?"_

She couldn't see; the room was too dark. But she heard drawers opening and a rustling noise over on Weiss' side of the room, and she was fairly certain that her white-haired partner was finally back.

Her voice was heavy and scratchy from just being woken up. "Weiss? Is that you?"

Silence answered her, but as her eyes adjusted, she could make out a shadowy figure moving towards the bathroom. The door to said room opened, and in the split second before it closed again, she caught a glimpse of half of Weiss' face. She looked... sad?

Concerned for her partner, Ruby shakily got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom door, hesitantly reaching out her hand to knock as she heard the shower turn on. But then she thought better of it, and let her arm fall back to her side. She was about to turn around and head back to bed, in a noticeably worse mood than before, but just before she could something caught her ear.

Soft singing. Weiss' voice, Weiss' beautiful, _beautiful_ voice.

That was too much, much too much for her right now. Weiss was unwittingly taking advantage of Ruby's half-awake state; her emotions felt like they were being amplified somehow. Her feelings for Weiss intensified, and Ruby felt her heart ache and her knees grow weak. But instead of fighting the sensation, she simply let herself slump down against the bathroom door.

She lost herself in the white-haired heiress' quiet but soulful singing, feeling her heart rising with her crescendos and falling with her diminuendos. Weiss' singing voice was quite unlike her regular tone of speech. Where the latter was forceful and brittle, the former was soft and delicate, ethereally haunting in its beauty.

Ruby felt her love for the other girl swell in her heart, knowing without a shadow of a doubt that this was the person that she wanted to be with. Such a thing of raw beauty, she felt, needed to be cherished and protected by someone. And it hurt, it hurt _so much_, knowing that she could never be that person. It would be someone else, she told herself, someone tall and strong and handsome, and smart, and rich, someone that could be everything Weiss needed. And that someone, definitely wasn't her. But try as she might, she simply could not stop feeling the way she did about her partner, leaving her alone with nothing but an aching sense of longing.

Too late, she noticed that the water had stopped running, perhaps even a little while ago. She felt the door shift against her back, and she frantically stood up and turned around.

Weiss stood in the door-frame in her blue nightgown, staring at her with a mixture of shock and anger, her hair loose as it tumbled down her shoulders. Her scar flared noticeably.

"W-were you listening to me sing?"

"...Yes," Ruby nervously replied, unable to find the willpower to lie her way out of this situation.

"You know that's eavesdropping right?" Ruby lowered her head in shame. But she felt she had to interrupt, to speak the words she needed to before it was too late. "How dare you, how incredibly rude of you to-"

"It was really beautiful," she interjected softly.

"I... what?"

"Your singing. It was really beautiful. You have a pretty voice Weiss, kind of like an angel. I wish you'd sing more often."

The other girl was speechless, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"I... you..."

In her head, Weiss tried to process what she had just heard, to fully understand what it meant. No one had ever spoken so plainly and honestly about her voice. They had told her how amazing it was, sure, but only followed by how she should use it, with their help of course, to gain fame, money, and influence. They treated her voice like an object, like a tool they could exploit.

Ruby was the first person to compliment her voice so simply, so honestly, that it made her feel amazing inside. To hear her partner speak those words about her, it made her heart swell up with pride and... something else. Something she wasn't sure about. Her feelings for Ruby flared to the forefront, but before she could do something she knew she'd regret, she shut those emotions out, shut her mouth, and turned away, intent on getting into bed as quickly as possible.

Her plan would have worked perfectly too, if a pair of strong arms hadn't reached out from behind and wrapped her in a firm, caring embrace. It was almost as if Ruby was afraid of breaking her. No one had ever touched her that way, as if they were concerned about hurting her. When people were forced to touch her, they treated her the same way she treated them: harshly.

And as much as she wanted to think otherwise, she knew she was treating Ruby the same way. The brunette had been her partner for the better part of two years, and now she was giving her the silent treatment like a petulant child, simply because she couldn't deal with her emotions. She was treating Ruby like trash, and it she knew it. And it hurt. But it was the only thing she could think to do.

Still, the notion that she could treat Ruby this badly, and still have the other girl embrace her with the utmost of care and caution... it was heart-melting. Ruby truly did care for her. Much more so than she deserved.

So she stood there, silent and unmoving, feeling her heart swell and pound, feeling like it would burst out of her chest any moment. Ruby held her tightly, refusing to let go. Fire ran up and down her spine and through her veins, and her fingers and toes tingled with electricity. It was the scariest, strangest, most heavenly feeling she had ever experienced. And she endured it, captured every second of it in her mind so that she could think about this moment when she was feeling alone. Because when everything was said and done, she knew she finally had someone who _cared_ for her, in a way that no one else ever had. The thought made her feel that somehow, some way, everything might turn out okay. She felt like she might actually not have to spend the remainder of her short life alone. She relished the idea, turning it around in her head and basking in its warmth, just as she basked in the warmth of Ruby's body pressed up against her own.

Ah, right. She had almost forgotten. Ruby's body. Ruby's warmth. Pressed up against her own. The realization of what Ruby was doing dragged her back into her bleak reality.

This had gone on long enough. She couldn't let herself indulge in this, couldn't let herself entertain the notion that she and Ruby could ever be together. So she pulled away as gently as possible, walked over to her bed, and slipped inside the covers. She shut her eyes as tightly as possible.

Ruby stood there for a few seconds longer, arms hanging uselessly by her sides. But before long, she too returned to her bed and laid down upon it, not even bothering to get under the covers. She felt like crying.

_"She didn't hug me back, not even a little... what does she hate me for? What did I do wrong?"_

But before the first tear could slip down her flushed face, she felt Weiss shift in the other bed.

A soft whisper posed her name like a question. "Ruby?" it asked.

"...Yes Weiss?"

"...Thank you."

"I... goodnight, Weiss. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight Ruby._ I'm sorry_."

"Sorry for what?" Ruby whispered back, but the other girl had already turned over and shut her out. Again.

_"What... what is she sorry for?"_

Sleep did not come easily that night, for either of them.

* * *

The next day Ruby awoke with a start, jolting upright as some crazy blonde kicked open the door to her room.

"Waaake up you two! It's team night!"

The brunette sighed, realizing she had woken up for nothing. She flopped backwards onto her bed, glancing to her right and watching Weiss as she groaned and pulled the sheets further over herself.

"Yang... it's still morning. We don't do team night until later in the evening, remember?"

"Aaand that's where you're wrong little sis. It's five in the evening."

"WHAAT!" Weiss scrambled out of bed, snatching a change of clothes from her drawer before rushing into the bathroom.

"Yang..." Ruby asked while rubbing her eyes, "please tell me you're just pranking her. Is it really that late?"

"Sorry, but yeap, it really is five. And if you'll care to remember, it's _my_ turn to pick what we do for team night!"

"Oh boy... so what's it gonna be this time? Motorcycle lessons? That crazy burger place? The gym? Again?"

Yang leaned forward suspiciously. There was a strange glint in her lavender eyes.

"When was the last time you drank?"

Ruby's eyes widened. "Oh no."

"Ooohhh yes."

* * *

**_There is, a house, in Sin City_**

**_They call: the Rising Sun_**

**_And it's been the ruin, of many a poor boy_**

**_And god, I know, I'm one_**

Yang sang these words softly, as she pushed open the old-west style swinging doors of the Rising Sun bar in Vale City. Her spurred boots clanged with every step she took, drawing attention from the occupants much like a Sheriff would have done in a bygone era. She stood there in the door for a second with a wicked grin, hands on her hips, daring someone to challenge her. Fortunately for the owner of the bar, everyone quickly averted their gaze. The other members of Team RWBY collectively breathed a sigh of relief and stepped inside. A dozen things immediately assaulted the senses. The shouting of enraged drunkards and the arguments of the sober battled for the attention of their ears. The aromas of mixed alcohol and barbeque filled their noses.

Team RWBY, dressed in regular street clothes for the night, or as close to regular street clothes as Weiss would ever wear, responded with a medley of reactions. Ruby looked excited, but yet also apprehensive at being forced to deal with the horrors of alcohol again. Blake's expression was neutral and reserved, but she swept her gaze over the entire room suspiciously. Yang had a wicked grin on her face. Who knew what she had planned for the night. And then there was Weiss. Weiss' expression was much like one you'd find on someone who'd just emerged from a port-a-potty that had been pushed over. To say she looked disgusted was a heinous understatement. But that was the fun thing about team night. Whoever's turn it was got to pick the activity, no matter how boring, far-fetched, downright illegal, or disagreeable with the other team members it was.

Ruby followed Yang and Blake inside, glancing backwards to make sure the heiress was behind her. The white-haired girl almost met her gaze, but quickly looked away before she could.

The interior was decorated much like an old cantina from the deserts out to the west. Everything was wooden, the chairs and tables were round, and everywhere one looked there were guns and mounted Grimm heads adorning the walls. The bar itself was attached to the wall to their left. It was huge, and the wall behind it was stocked with almost every brand of beer, wine, brandy, whiskey, gin, vodka, moonshine, sake, rum, tequila, and mead known to man. A vast panoply of bad decisions just waiting to happen, in everyone's opinion but Yang's.

They sat around a circular table next to the bar, Yang sitting across from Weiss. They looked at each other in turn, Ruby with a smile, Weiss with a frown, Yang with a smirk, and Blake with something unreadable. The faunus was the first to break the relative silence of their table; the rest of the bar was actually quite rowdy.

"Yang, please remind me again why you wore _spurred boots_."

"Duh? This is an old western bar, and I've obviously got to fit the part! I noticed you didn't wear your cowboy hat either."

"I already told you I was _not_ wearing that."

The blonde stuck her tongue out at her girlfriend. "Spoilsport."

"More like the only sane one in this relationship."

"Pfft, whatever. Ima go hit up the bartender, whaddya guys want? AND before you say anything, Weiss, Ruby, yes, you _do_ have to drink. That's the condition of this team night. I didn't say _how much_ you have to drink, but you do have to at least drink some. And no, beer doesn't count."

This all worked out in Yang's favor of course. She knew that how often Weiss and Ruby drank landed on the slider somewhere between "once a year" and "never." She knew that it would only take the slightest amount of liqueur to get them drunk.

"Fine," Weiss said with a defeated sigh. "I'll have vodka. Something classy, please, not just some cheap swill."

"Stolichnaya, got it."

Ruby spoke up next. "Uh, whiskey? Something good?"

"I'll get you some Jack," Yang responded.

"Château La Garde, Pessac-Léognan. No less than five years old."

"Uh... you're gonna have to write that down Blake. No way I'll remember that."

The faunus pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen from who-knows-where, and quickly wrote down her choice of spirit for the night. Yang took the paper with a smile and rushed off to the bar, immediately striking up a conversation with the man.

Weiss watched her with a bored expression. "Sometimes I wonder how she can be so good with people she doesn't know, and yet so infuriating to the ones she does."

"Yeah, I've always wondered that too," Ruby said. She was glad that the earlier tension between her and the heiress seemed to be gone, but she realized it was probably only because they were in the company of others. She pulled four menus out of the metal stand they were in and passed them out to her friends and Yang's empty space.

They mulled over their orders for a while, and soon enough Yang returned with a tray of drinks. She set each one down with its respective owner, then sat down in her own chair.

"A toast!" she shouted.

"To what, might I ask?" Weiss asked.

"Well to Team RWBY of course! I don't know if you noticed, but we're currently ranked number one in both academics _and_ combat exercises."

"Oh I noticed. But to be honest, we're only barely ahead in academics. Because of a certain someone..."

"Hey! Without me, you'd be near the bottom in combat. I'm not trying to puff myself up here, but I think I can honestly say I'm the best fighter in the school."

"Best? No. Your style is still somewhat unrefined. But most effective... there I would be forced to agree. You have a drive and a determination in combat that others lack," the heiress elaborated.

Yang grinned. "Basically I can take a punch better than anyone else."

"If you want to put it that way. And don't be offended, but I think Ruby is catching up with you. I'd say by the end of our fourth year, she'll be able to best anyone in the entire school. Including you."

Ruby's face lit up at the honest praise from her partner. "Aww, thanks Weiss."

"Don't thank me," she replied. "You've earned it."

Blake, who had been silently listening to the conversation, closed her menu and located the closest waiter. "Is everyone ready to order?"

"Geez kitty, you hungry or something?"

"Starved, actually. A certain someone forgot to pack a lunch for our bike ride, remember?"

"Oh, so it's my fault huh?" Yang chuckled. She loved teasing her girlfriend. "I just worry about the bike, you can take care of that small stuff."

"Food is small stuff? That's certainly not how you made it sound earlier when you were complaining."

"Ouch! Taking advantage of me in my moment of weakness." The blonde pressed her hands to her heart and frowned pitifully. "I don't know if my heart can take this..."

"You'll get over it," Blake dryly replied. "So, orders. Everyone ready?"

A chorus of nodding heads answered her, and she waved over a nearby waiter, who replied by holding his pointer finger in the air, signalling that he would be a minute. Yang decided to take advantage of the lull in conversation to execute her carefully prepared plan.

"Hey Weiss."

"Ugh, what do you want Yang?"

"Whatcha gettin."

"Why do you care?"

"Oh you know me," she said with an impish smirk. "I'm naturally curious."

"Yes, well, curiosity killed the cat, who in this case happens to be your girlfriend. And I'm sure you don't want that."

Blake frowned. "Leave me out of this, please."

"Stop trying to change the subject. Whatcha gettin."

"Hmph. If you must know, I had planned on ordering Filet Mignon."

"Wow, how cliché for the snobby rich girl to get the most expensive cut huh? You're paying, right?"

"No," Weiss said with a sneer. "Remember, this is _your_ team night."

Yang simply shrugged. "Whatever, I can cover it. But uh, why don't you get the bratwurst or something? This place has _really_ good bratwurst."

"I've never particularly enjoyed any type of sausage honestly. So I'm going to have to pass on the bratwurst."

Yang leaned forward towards the table, a mischievous glint in her eye. Blake and Ruby both braced themselves for what would come next.

"Weiss."

The heiress was completely clueless. "What you big oaf?"

"That decision is simply the _wurst_."

Weiss was struck speechless, her scar twitching angrily as she attempted to process the horror of what she had been subjected to. Ruby face-palmed, sighing heavily. Blake shivered, her ears folding themselves flat against her head.

"Oh come on," Yang said with a grin, "it wasn't that bad! Obviously you guys aren't drunk enough." She held up her glass, prompting the others to do the same. Begrudgingly though, they gave in, and everyone raised their glasses for a full spectrum toast.

Yellow. "To Team RWBY!"

Black. "Cheers."

Red. "Yay, Team RWBY!"

White. "Quite."

* * *

Ruby learned two things that night.

One. Drunk Weiss, equals affectionate Weiss.

And two, affectionate Weiss, equals terrified Ruby.

As the night progressed, the atmosphere in the Rising Sun changed. Angry drunks were escorted out by friends and the light-weights, for the most part, left of their own accord. The mood shifted: people's inhibitions lowered, and conversation got a lot less intelligible and a lot more honest. Team RWBY had migrated to different parts of the bar. Yang and Blake were in a back corner, having some undoubtedly deep conversation. Weiss was at the bar itself, sipping her vodka and doing her best to ignore the boisterous man to her right. And then there was Ruby.

On the opposite side of the bar, but a little closer to the back, was a large fireplace with a few brown leather couches positioned in front of it. Ruby was currently perched atop the one closest to the flickering flame. She stared deep into the burning embers, her mind occupied with all kinds of nervous thoughts. She didn't like alcohol much. It brought out the worst in her, the nervous, self-doubting, self-loathing part. Whatever hidden fears she bottled up during the day, alcohol brought them to the forefront of her mind and forced her to stare them down. And the most prominent thing on her mind lately, was Weiss.

All she could think of was how much Weiss must hate her, how completely useless she was, and how impossible a relationship between the two of them was. She over-thought every little detail she could remember over the past few days. She managed to convince herself that Weiss was being serious when she called her a dolt, and a dunce, and a loser, and a clumsy, inconsiderate idiot.

She glanced over her shoulder, seeking out the source of her trauma, only to see the girl in question chatting up the bartender with a smile on her face. Her intoxicated mind took the worst possible route it could have, showing her images of the man taking Weiss home and having his way with her. Her heart ached, the emotional pain somehow amplified by the numbing effects the alcohol was having on her physical body.

_"She's gonna go home with him... the girl I love sleeping with a stranger... I hate myself..."_

She turned back around, and this time she was shaking a little. Staring into the fire with pained eyes, she knocked back the glass of whiskey she had been nursing in one go.

* * *

"So what's a beautiful girl like yourself doing at a bar like this?"

Weiss shifted her gaze to the bartender, an older man somewhere in his forties, with short greying-black hair and an old-western style black vest over a brown shirt. His voice was warm and melodic.

"Sorry," she responded, "I'm a le..."

She stared blankly at the alcohol display in front of her, the hand holding her glass of vodka shaking.

_"Did I almost say... I'm a lesbian?"_

"Hey, you okay? I just asked a simple question."

"I... I'm sorry. I got distracted."

He chuckled as he set down the glass he had been polishing. At this point, the bar itself was nearly empty. Weiss was one of only three people sitting at it; the rest of the patrons had retired to the tables to discuss matters amongst themselves. Thus, the bartender was free to focus his attention on the girl in front of him, who desperately looked like she needed some advice.

"Well, excuse me if I'm prying, but it sounded like you were about to say you were a lesbian."

"I..."

This was crazy. There was no way she was discussing her sexuality with a stranger. Yet a small part of herself urged the rest of her mind to trust him. Maybe it was the alcohol coursing through her veins. Maybe it was the honest look he had in his emerald eyes. Maybe it was because she felt guilty for sneaking glances towards Ruby as she sat by the fire, looking as lonely as Weiss felt.

But due to some impossible set of circumstances, she let her mental defenses drop, and she began to speak her mind.

"Yes."

"Well huh. That's not something people are normally hesitant about. These days, folks are pretty adamant on being certain."

She sighed, staring into the contents of her glass. "Yes well, the situation is complicated."

"Oh, it always is."

Did he just insinuate that her troubles were nothing? "Excuse me?"

"No offense Miss, but maybe things aren't as complicated as they seem to be."

She raised her eyebrow, a silent signal for him to continue.

"Look, I'm not gonna pretend I know your story, or what you're going through, or even how you feel about all this. But I see you sneaking looks at that girl over there by the fire, and something tells me that she's the one causing you all this trouble."

"She's not... causing trouble. This isn't her fault, not at all." She took another sip of her vodka.

The bartender leaned against the bar on his elbow, gazing over at the fireplace where Ruby sat. "I'm just saying, this might not be all that complicated really. That girl over there. You like her? And just for the sake of this conversation, which I can assure you is one-hundred percent completely confidential, just be honest."

A hundred thousand thoughts swirled through her alcohol-afflicted mind, and yet the one answer that kept coming up, over and over again, was a simple, resounding "_yes_."

Being drunk is really a crazy thing. Emotions seem so much stronger than normal, you cry over things you never would while sober, you're friendly with everybody you meet, and you're suddenly comfortable talking about things that you would never discuss otherwise.

If Weiss had been sober, a resounding: "No!" would have left her mouth without a moment of hesitation. But this was buzzed Weiss. Not yet drunk, but definitely not sober. So instead, she answered honestly.

"...Yes. I like her a lot. Way more than I should. She's just so honest, and kind and caring and-"

"Hey now, it's alright. I don't need to hear any of that. I think you'd feel better about it if you just kept those details to yourself. Like I said, they only complicate the situation. So, now we have an honest answer. You like that girl over there."

"...Yes." It felt good to say it.

"So go over there and tell her."

"Wh-what?"

The bartender grinned knowingly. "You heard me."

"I can't do that! I can't be a lesbian, I've got my family, the corporation, and then they're gonna try to marry me off, and she just doesn't like me like that, and I don't deserve-"

"Whoah, whoah whoah! Hold your horses there little Miss. All those little reasons you just gave that you can't be together? Guess what those are."

"...Legitimate concerns?"

"Nope." He smiled, a bright and honest thing. "Complications. See, love is a thing. It's a feeling, an emotion. Love don't have a gender."

Her heart nearly exploded when he said the word love; it was much to soon for that, but she instead chose to focus on arguing her point. "But they're-"

"Nope. Complications."

"Then what about the-"

"Nope." He leaned closer to her, making sure his point was made crystal clear, as clear as the vodka in her glass. "Complications."

She stared at him blankly, her less-than-sober mind slowly accepting his advice as divine intervention.

"M-maybe... you might be right... but what do I do?"

"Hey, I'm just your bartender, not your therapist."

"Ugh..." She dropped her head down onto the bar.

"But, if you were to, say, go over to that girl that you obviously like a lot more than you'll admit, and talk to her about how you feel..." He slid a large glass of vodka towards her. "This'll help."

She slowly picked up her head, looking at him questioningly. Then she saw the liqueur. Her eyes flickered rapidly back and forth between him and the glass. Seconds passed. But then she made her decision. Swallowing decisively, she picked up the glass and downed the entire thing. She slammed it down, gasping and coughing as she attempted to massage her throat. It felt like it was on fire.

"Y-you bastard! What was that?"

"Oh, that little number? Heh, the strongest vodka we got. But like I said, it'll help. Now get going, and good luck."

She glanced towards Ruby, feeling the liquid courage flow through her veins like the fire that burned in front of the brunette. She looked back to the bartender, finding him with his back already turned, polishing another glass.

"Thank you... uh..." She realized she didn't know the bartenders name. "I never caught your name?"

"Miss," he said without turning around, "names aren't necessary in this profession. Just go on and do what feels right. Oh and, drinks are on the house."

"...Right. Thanks."

Confidently, she stood up and faced Ruby, determined to walk right up to her partner and explain her feelings, no matter the cost. Alcohol really was a crazy thing.

And half-way between the bar and the fireplace, alcohol was exactly what hit her, in full force. Vodka tended to sneak up on you. Weiss, for the first time in her life, was now well and truly drunk.

* * *

Ruby swirled her glass around again, gazing at the deep brown hues, watching how they mixed with each other. There was a profound sadness in her grey eyes, an indiscernible thing that mingled with the flame reflecting from her pupils. It was something that she couldn't have explained with words if she had tried. She sank further into the couch, the glow from the blaze casting strange shadows upon her face.

She heard footsteps behind her. Her heart jumped as it leapt to conclusions, hoping desperately that it was Weiss coming to talk to her, to look at her, _anything_ to show that she was aware of Ruby's pathetically small and inconsequential existence.

"Hey Ruby."

_"Oh. It's Yang..."_

"Me and Blake are gonna head out." Ruby didn't bother looking at them. "You gonna be fine here with Weiss?"

If Yang had been sober, she would have asked a multitude of other questions. Hey, you alright? You look down, what's up? Is something bothering you Ruby? Yo, you gonna be okay sis?

But this was drunk Yang, who was blissfully unaware of everything but her _immediate_ surroundings. Which in this case, was Blake's arm wrapped around her waist.

"Yeah, I... we'll be good. Goodnight you guys."

"Goodnight Ruby," Blake said.

"Night sis, seeya monday," Yang said. Her voice was already fading off into the distance, along with the sound of her footsteps. In the back of her mind, Ruby wondered what had happened to the spurred boots her sister had brought. Blake probably had something to do with that.

She sunk lower into the couch and sipped some more of her whiskey. The taste was honestly horrible, but the burning kept her mind off of the pain in her heart. Weiss was probably still at the bar, having the time of her life with the bartender. Sure, he looked like he was forty, and Weiss was only twenty, but she had always figured the heiress would be attracted to older men. Sophistication and wisdom, all that jazz.

An indeterminate amount of time passed. She sipped her drink. Her vision blurred at the edges. The fire crackled and sparked. She tried to think about something, _anything_ other than Weiss.

And then, lo and behold, the heiress herself unceremoniously plopped down next to her.

"Uh, h-hey Weiss. What're you-"

The words caught in her throat as her partner latched onto her arm and pulled herself closer, pressing up against Ruby and swinging her legs onto the brunettes.

_"Weiss is... in my lap..."_

Her cheeks flushed and her heart pounded like a jackhammer. She struggled to try and maintain her composure and still remember to breathe at the same time.

"Heeyyyy Ruby." Her voice was slurred, and Ruby realized that the heiress was _definitely_ not herself at this point. Weiss leaned closer, pressing her nose to the side of Ruby's neck and taking a deep whiff. "Mmm, you smell really nice. Like roses." The contact made her skin tingle, and electricity shot up her spine.

_"This can't be happening. This isn't real."_

"Why do you always smell like roses?"

Weiss had started to stroke her cheek and play with her hair. Ruby shivered and desperately tried to keep calm, to keep herself from returning the affection. She desperately wanted to respond in kind, but she knew that Weiss wasn't in the right state of mind. If she ever got the chance to show Weiss how she felt, she needed it to be _real_.

"I uh... it's my semblance. You know, like the rose petals that fly out everywhere when I go real fast?"

Weiss moaned softly, her fingers tracing patterns on Ruby's neck that felt like the most embarrassing, and yet the most stunningly wonderful sensations she had ever experienced. And the fact that it was Weiss stroking her neck made it all the more incredible. If only the heiress knew exactly what she was doing to her right now...

"Umm... are y-you okay Weiss?"

"Oh, I'm okay." She smiled against Ruby's neck as she nuzzled closer, somehow managing to press herself up even further against the tall brunette. When the heiress spoke, she could feel the words tickle her throat, her mouth being pressed up against it. "The question is, are you okay..."

"Uh, heh heh... yeah?"

"That's what I wanna hear..." Weiss replied. " You know, I just want you to be happy..."

"Y-you... you what?"

"I just... I wanna make you happy Ruby, I wanna make you as happy as you make me, because you really do. You're so, honest, and kind and thoughtful, and you do all these crazy things that I always say are annoying, but deep down I really like them because it means you care..." Her voice started to become strained and hitched in places. "And, and it's kinda sad, but I'm completely dependent on you to make me feel okay, and-"

Out of nowhere, Weiss broke down and started to sob uncontrollably, clutching the collar of Ruby's jacket and pressing her face into it.

Ruby had been speechless beforehand, as she listened to her her carefully constructed matrix of precise reasons why Weiss hated her get smashed apart by their originator herself. But now Weiss was crying. She couldn't be speechless anymore.

Ruby had an uncontrollable desire to help those in need, and right now, Weiss needed her, and the thought felt amazing. Somehow, she knew that Weiss didn't just need a shoulder to cry on. She needed a specific someone's shoulder. She needed her. And that felt incredible. Her heart swelled, and she felt warmer than she ever had before.

She wrapped her arms around the distraught girl and squeezed her tightly, whispering gently into her ear. She was finally getting the chance to share some of her love with Weiss. Even if the other girl was drunk, the opportunity to hold her close was not something she was going to let slip through her fingers.

"WeissWeissWeiss, ssshh, it's gonna be okay. I'm here, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

The white-haired girl struggled to speak in between sobs."Just, j-just don't leave me, okay?"

"Weiss, I will never leave you," she whispered. "Even if you go wandering off into the mountains or something crazy, I'll come and find you. I'll never leave you. Sshh, it's alright. I'm here."

"I-I can't say it enough, thank you," Weiss managed to choke out. "Thank you thank you thank you, so much, for everything you've ever done for m-me."

"Believe me, it's nothing," Ruby replied. She slowly swept her hand through the other girls hair, pulling it out of its ponytail. Billowing waves of pure white flowed and cascaded as Ruby watched. She was mesmerized as she ran her fingers through the softest hair she had ever felt.

_"The most beautiful thing in the world... She really is..."_

"I mean, what are partners for?"

Weiss looked up at her suddenly, her tear-filled eyes full of longing and hurt at the same time.

"W-well, that's the thing Ruby. There's something I want to t-tell you. I... I don't want to be partners... I want to be..."

Ruby's entire world stopped. Her existence hinged on Weiss' next words. Would she be with her partner at the end of the night? Or would she still be alone?

There were two distinct possibilities that flashed through her mind. Weiss could either say that she wanted to be more than friends, and all of Ruby's dreams would come true. Or, she could say that she didn't want to be partners anymore. Ruby didn't know if she could take that.

What her partner said next would decide her entire future. She felt it in her bones. The words she spoke next...

Didn't come.

Frantically she glanced down, noticing that Weiss' eyes were closed at the same time that she felt the heiress' grip slacken.

"Oh man... I can't believe this... no fucking way..." Ruby breathed.

Weiss had passed out.

"Weiss."

No response.

She pinched Weiss' cheek as gently as possible, pulling the soft flesh back and forth.

"Weiisss, wake up!"

Still, the _USS Rose_ detected no life signs.

"I can't believe you..." she whispered. "Oh crap... Yang and Blake already left. And I've had a lot of whiskey... so no driving..." She briefly wondered why she was talking to herself, before writing it off as a quirk of the intoxicated.

She glanced down at the unconscious girl in her arms, marveling at how soft her skin was, and wondering just how she was going to get her out of the bar.

_"I'm literally just going to have to carry her out... Well, better to do it now than later. Man, she's never gonna forgive me for this."_

Ruby stood up, cradling the heiress to her chest with one arm around her shoulders and another under her knees.

_"Huh, I'd always dreamed of carrying Weiss bridal style. This isn't how I imagined it though..."_

She began walking towards the bar's exit, wondering at how it was that the other girl was so light.

_"Like a feather... a beautiful, white, fluffy, feather. And she's all mine right now..."_

Ruby knew she would never be able to take advantage of Weiss if she tried, but it still gave her comfort knowing that she was the one that was there for her partner in her time of need. She wouldn't trade her position right now for any one in the world.

She used her foot to push open the bar's swinging doors, and right before she stepped outside into the cool night air, she noticed the bartender give her a wry smile. She wrote it off as she stepped out onto the sidewalk, looking up and down the street, trying to see past the people walking by her. If they were giving her weird looks, she didn't notice.

It had rained for a bit, and the street lights were reflected in puddles of water on the ground. A few cars drove past, their tires sending ripples through the pools and distorting the reflections. As far as she could see, two and three-story buildings gazed back at her, neon signs inviting her to try all manner of products and services.

Now, if she remembered their previous forays into Vale correctly, there should be a hotel right down... there!

She shifted the smaller girl in her arms, clutching her tighter to protect her from accusing glances and the chill that was now apparent in the air. Her destination set, she began walking, determination evident in each of her steps.

Faintly, she felt Weiss' icy aura reach out, as if probing its surroundings for threats. She felt it touch tentatively her own, and what happened next surprised her. On a spiritual level, she felt her partners aura embrace hers, mixing and mingling with it, accepting it and connecting with it on a level deeper than anything she had ever felt before. It almost felt like they were becoming one, and the sensation sent fire licking up her spine.

Weiss' aura had reached out while her physical body couldn't, and it had found Ruby's own aura right next to it. But instead of recoiling or rejecting it, it had welcomed the presence and allowed itself to flow into Ruby's, using the brunette's as a source of strength.

Ruby felt Weiss' aura slowly merging with her own, draining her for the strength that it needed. But she didn't stop it. She would do anything for Weiss, including give up her soul if need be. This was the most amazing thing she had ever felt, and she never wanted it to stop.

Maybe it was because of just who she protecting, but the air suddenly felt ominous and foreboding. The buildings seemed to lean in towards her, threatening her charge. She grit her teeth and dared someone to try something. Nothing would happen to the girl in her arms, the girl that she was hopelessly in love with. She would die before letting anyone even come close to trying.

_"Hold on Weiss, I've got you."_

The heiress' words from earlier sprang into her mind. _"Just don't leave me, okay?"_

She pulled Weiss just a little closer.

_"I won't leave you. Not now, not ever..."_

* * *

_**This one's for you MM-Hunter. Nothing too special, just showing some appreciation for someone who's been reading my work since my first Whiterose one-shot. Thanks.**_

_**Holy crap, sixty followers in two chapters, what are you guys doing :/**_

_**The song I opened with is "Moondust" by Jaymes Young. It's really amazing, and it goes great with the story. You should give it a listen. **_

_**DID YOU GUYS SEE EPISODE TWO OF VOLUME TWO? WHEN RUBY JUMPED IN WEISS' LAP AND WEISS SAID "SHUT UP, DON'T TOUCH ME," BUT SHE ONLY CLUTCHED RUBY CLOSER AND TOUCHED THEIR FOREHEADS TOGETHER?! WRRRRYYYYYY**_

_**So I'm really trying to improve my writing lately, not so much spelling and grammar as actual technique. Describing outfits, emotions, writing actions, all of that. I've been reading writing blogs, studying up on various techniques, etc., and I was wondering if you guys could help out. If you could, please point out anything that sounded awkward, or read weird, or just didn't sound right. Maybe something was too drawn out, or maybe a scene description was boring. Anything like that, please point it out so I can identify my flaws and work on them. I'd really appreciate that.**_

_**Reviews are always welcomed.**_


	4. Chapter 3 - Starlight

_**Far away  
This ship is taking me far away  
Far away from the memories  
Of the people who care if I live or die **_

_**Starlight  
I will be chasing the starlight  
Until the end of my life  
I don't know if it's worth it anymore **_

_**Hold you in my arms  
I just wanted to hold  
You in my arms **_

_**But I'll never let you go  
If you promise not to fade away  
Never fade away **_

_**Our hopes and expectations  
Black holes and revelations **_

_**I'll never let you go**_

_**If you promise not to fade away**_

* * *

Wan light filtered into the room, slowly creeping across the carpet and up the bed as the hours of the morning passed by. Eventually, they reached the bed's occupant, who grimaced and stirred as beams of sunlight conspired to irritate her eyelids and force her out of sleep.

Weiss Schnee awoke, dizzy, thirsty, and incredibly confused.

_"Where... am I?"_

She sat up, wincing as the room spun slightly. Gingerly easing her eyes the rest of the way open, she gazed around the room. It was small, and judging by the immaculate furnishings, channel guide next to the television, and fire escape plan posted on the wall, she surmised that she was in a hotel room. The walls were painted a dim yellow, and the carpet was deep green, like evergreens in the mountains. The colors did their best to give the room an atmosphere of warmth and welcome, but to Weiss, it felt far too artificial for her to be comfortable in. Also, she was the only person in the room, and to wake up by yourself in an unfamiliar location is an unnerving sensation.

Glancing under the sheets, she realized that she was still fully dressed in the clothes that she had worn... to where? As she pondered the question, she unconsciously attempted to swallow, and nearly choked. Her throat screamed at her, demanding aid in the form of liquid, any liquid.

She swung her legs out of the noticeably warm and comfortable sheets, bracing herself before attempting to stand on her own two legs. As expected, she stumbled slightly before managing to brace herself against a nearby wall.

_"The bathroom. Got to get to the bathroom. Water. Need water."_

Her throat felt like a desert, parched beyond belief. She slowly shuffled into the bathroom and picked up one of the plastic cups that were provided for hotel guests. After filling it with water, she impatiently drank the entire cup in one large gulp. She filled the cup back up, and slammed it down again. And again. And again.

Eventually, the dizziness went away, as did the dryness of her throat. The confusion, however, remained.

_"How did I end up in this hotel room? There's only one bed so... did I come here alone? What happened last night?"_

She gazed at herself in the mirror and realized how haggard and sleep-deprived she looked.

_"Well for starters, a shower would sure be nice..."_

In fact, a shower sounded like the best thing in the world right now.

* * *

The task proved more difficult than she had expected. Not only did she almost slip in the tub **three** times, but the water couldn't maintain a constant temperature; it fluctuated between uncomfortably cold, infuriatingly lukewarm, and blazing hot. Also, she managed to drop the tiny bottle of shampoo that the hotel saw fit to bestow upon her, spilling the contents down the drain.

All in all, it was a terrible shower, and Weiss was in a considerably worse mood when she stepped out of the bathroom with her body wrapped in a towel.

She kept her eyes on the floor as she walked, but froze when she heard the sound of cloth sliding over skin.

Whipping her head up, she was treated to a view from... her worst nightmares? Her deepest fantasies? She couldn't tell.

Ruby was standing by the door, pulling her shirt over her head, and her lacy black bra did a very poor job of containing her...

_"Oh my god her abs... why haven't I noticed those before..."_

Ruby, it would seem, did indeed possess the most defined set of abs that she could ever remember seeing. The brunette grunted as she finished pulling the shirt over herself, jolting Weiss back into reality as she remembered exactly whose musculature she was currently admiring. She turned to the side, pretending to busy with herself with her clothes, which she had neatly folded on the bed. She realized how awkward this would be for her if she wasn't the one to break the silence. She had to take control of the situation.

"Hey Ruby."

"O-oh! Hi Weiss! I uh, didn't see you come out of the bathroom. How... how are you feeling?"

The heiress looked over at Ruby, relieved to see she had finished changing. Her partner had a weird look to her though, almost as if she was nervous and afraid of something.

"I'm fine, a lot better now that I've showered. I assume the reason I felt so horrible this morning is because I drank last night?"

Ruby nodded her head, still looking just as nervous as before.

"...Yang's doing?"

Another head nod. That was it.

"Ruby, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so apprehensive? Afraid I'm going to bite your head off?"

"Aha no, it's just... how much of last night do you remember?"

Weiss looked down in thought, slowly dragging up memories of the night prior.

"I... we went to bar, I remember that. And I remember arguing with Yang about something, and then, oh I remember talking to the bartender for a while... about..."

And then she remembered, in crystal clear detail, her determination to tell Ruby how she felt about her. And after that, nothing. A grey fog of uncertainty that terrified her with its possibilities.

"And I don't remember anything after that."

Ruby nervously looked down at her feet. "Oh. Um..."

Normally, Weiss would be content to just let things lie. But Ruby clearly knew something, and she was in no mood for games at this point. "What."

"Huh?"

"You clearly know what happened. Just tell me."

"I... I reaaalllly don't know if I should, you'll probably get really mad, and I don't want that."

"Ruby," Weiss said forcefully, her hands on her hips. "Tell me. I promise I won't get mad at you."

"Well... you... okay..." Ruby hung her head. "I was just sitting at the fireplace by myself, a-and after you finished talking to the bartender, you came over and sat next to me."

"Okay. What did we... talk about?"

"See that's kiinnddaa the thing... we didn't do much talking. You kind of... got really touchy-feely."

Weiss felt her cheeks start to burn. "...What do you mean?"

"You snuggled like... real close to me..."

More blushing. _"Curse you, blood. Curse you for rushing to my face."_

"A-and then you were like, playing with my hair, and you told me that you wanted me to be happy, because I make you happy..."

At this point, she realized, she was blushing profusely. But she didn't turn away or leave. She had to know everything that had happened last night.

"I..." A possibility occurred to the heiress, and she narrowed her eyes. "You're not screwing with me, are you?"

Ruby held her hands up defensively. "Of course not! I promise I'm telling the truth! Cuz like, after you told me that you just broke down and started crying, and I kind of held you and you asked me not to leave you, and you said a lot of really nice things about me, and then, and then I thought you were about to say something else but then you just... passed out."

The room seemed cold and empty in the wake of Ruby's declaration. The brunette too, seemed deflated somehow.

"So I picked you up. And I carried you to this hotel. I don't have a lot of money, so I could only afford one bed. I slept on the floor, don't worry. You were sleeping pretty soundly, and I figured you might be hungry. I went to go get you some breakfast before you woke up." She pointed towards a plastic bag. "It's right there if you want it."

Weiss was speechless. The knowledge that Ruby had done all of that for her, had carried her to safety, had bought her a hotel room with what little money she had... She had even put Weiss in the only bed while she slept on the floor, and then went to get her breakfast...

She couldn't comprehend, couldn't understand how someone could show her that much kindness, with no expectation of a reward, simply because... why? Why did Ruby do all of these things for her without a moment of hesitation? This ability to be this nice to someone, especially to someone who was undeniably cold and difficult to get along with, it just didn't click in her brain. She hadn't been raised that way; the concept of kindness for kindness' sake was unknown to her.

And then it hit her. _That_ was why she felt so safe and, well, normal around Ruby. Because the girl was the exact opposite of how she was raised, the antithesis of her life as heiress of Schnee Dust. Whereas her former life was withdrawn, harsh, judgmental and cold, Ruby was open, loving, friendly, and always optimistic. She didn't have to live up to any set of standards or expectations while she was with Ruby. The brunette never seemed to want anything more than for her to be herself, and to be happy with it.

In short, she realized, Ruby was nowhere near perfect, but she was perfect for _her_. She knew then, that just _being_ with Ruby would give her happiness for the rest of her days. And the realization was terrible, because it something she could never allow to happen.

They could never be together. Her station, her life, her parents, none of them would ever allow it. She felt her heart shrivel up like a withered flower, feeling the pain like a knife driven into her chest.

_"That's funny,"_ she thought. A sad chuckle echoed through her mind. _"Heh, I never knew heartache could be an actual, physical pain... all the stories lied."_

Weiss was pulled back into reality as Ruby cleared her throat. The brunette folded her hands behind her back, nervously rubbing her foot back and forth on the carpet.

"Um, Weiss, was there... what were you going to say? Last night, before you passed out?"

Weiss met Ruby's gaze with her own. She didn't know why, but the brunette's eyes were filled with hope, and yet, fear as well.

_"What is she afraid of? And what is she hoping for?"_

Alas, she knew she didn't have the time to ponder the implications. She had to shut this down now. Maybe Ruby felt the same way. Maybe she didn't. Either way, it would be easier and less painful in the end, she knew, to just keep things where they were. Friends, partners, nothing more. At least, that's what she kept telling herself over and over. It didn't help the pain at all.

"Oh, that. I was going to say..."

_"I was going to say that I have these crazy feelings for you, that you make me happy when no one else can, and you're always there for me no matter what. When you're around, I get butterflies in my chest, my throat tingles, and I almost can't breathe sometimes. When you're in the same room as me, I don't want you to look at anyone else but me. I'm desperate for your attention, for you to notice me and validate my existence. I have no idea how you feel about me, but I just want to say that I like you. In **that** way, and I'll let you do with that as you will."_

"That I think you're an amazing partner and a fantastic person, for everything you've ever done for me. Thank you."

Ruby nodded her head slowly. "I... you're welcome." Her face remained neutral, but the nervous shuffling had stopped, and her arms were now hanging limp by her sides.

"Are you okay?"

Her partner jolted a bit, before looking back at her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. Those beautiful grey orbs, always so full of life and energy, looked dead and dull. That, more than anything else, was what broke her heart. Knowing that she was causing Ruby internal pain, after all that her partner had done for her and how kindly she treated her, it was almost too much for her heart to bear.

But she was a strong girl. That was at least one good byproduct of her upbringing. She was determined and stubborn; she had been taught well the ways of closing ones'-self off emotionally.

And so the two of them stood there in silence, Weiss' expression blank and unreadable, and Ruby with a fake, dead smile.

Ruby spoke first, her voice sounding pained and unnatural. "I'm... gonna go check my laundry, I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay."

Ruby opened the door and stepped outside, sending one last quick glance to the heiress, as if giving her room to say something, anything. But Weiss answered with silence, and the brunette shut the door.

_"Were those... tears gathering in her eyes?"_

The thought that Ruby would cry over her when she deserved nothing more than to be forgotten was too much. She was already completely emotionally exhausted. Her knees buckled, and she lost the ability to support her own weight as she slumped down against door. All the pain and regret she held inside came rushing out at once, forcing her to face it all, accusing her of being a soulless monster with a black heart.

And she couldn't deny any of the accusations.

She curled up, hugging her knees to her chest. And then she cried, and cried, and cried.

* * *

Ruby was true to her word. She went to the laundry room, a small, dusty space with a few racks of old decrepit washers and dryers. Her face was blank and expressionless; gone was the smile she had worn earlier. She was glad to she didn't have to fake it for Weiss anymore. She pretended to check a random dryer until the room's other occupant, a middle-aged balding man, left. And then she locked the door behind him. She didn't want to be walked in on; it was an early warning system if someone needed in, and she could just explain that it had locked on its own when she had come in.

She slid down against the door and let everything go. She started to cry. This was it, it was all over, her mind told her. The little fragment of hope she had held onto, the one that said that she and Weiss could be together one day, was now nothing but ashes. It had burned up in the fireplace back at the Rising Sun. Maybe she would find someone else someday, some other person to fall deeply in love with. But she didn't want that, she just wanted Weiss. She wanted her more than she had ever wanted anything in her entire life. Even more than she wanted to see her mother again, as selfish as that seemed.

She would get over these feelings eventually, she knew. But that time was not now.

And so she cried, and cried, and cried.

* * *

There was a knocking on the door, and Weiss rushed over to it. She had finished crying a while ago- her tear ducts were finally spent. She had cleaned her face and put on what little makeup she always carried with her, to hide the redness of her eyes. She opened the door.

"Hi Weiss!"

It was Ruby, smiling as brightly as ever. And this time, the smile seemed genuine.

"...Hey Ruby." She didn't want to dwell on the past. She needed to move on as quickly as possible, to minimize the damage it could cause to her. "You know it's Monday? We've already missed most of today's classes."

"Yeah, I know. I already called up Yang, and she told our professors that we were sick. They seemed pretty understanding apparently."

"Oh. What did you tell Yang about me?"

"Just that you passed out, and I had to get to a hotel room. She thought it was hilarious."

Weiss huffed in response. "Of course she did, the uncouth brute. Well, I cleaned the room and I have all of my things, are you ready to check out?"

"Yeap, I didn't really have anything to begin with though, eh heh."

"Alright then, let's go." Weiss stepped outside and closed the door behind her, following Ruby as they walked down the three sets of stairs between them and the hotel's registration lobby. At the front desk, Ruby handed back their room keys with a happy smile and a warm "thank you."

_"How is she always so gosh-darn happy? And even around me too... I know I can't be helping matters at all."_

Then she remembered just who had paid for the room, and with limited funds too. It had taken her a while because she was usually the one paying for the team's expenses, seeing as how her wallet was nearly bottomless.

As they walked out of the lobby and onto the street to look for a taxi, Weiss spoke up. "Ruby, thank you for paying for that hotel room. I know you don't have a lot of money, and it really means a lot to me that you would do that for me."

"Oh don't give me that, we're partners remember? We do that kind of stuff for each other."

"Yes, well, regardless, I want to show my appreciation somehow. A Schnee doesn't just take a debt lying down. Is there a way I can make it up to you?"

Meeting Ruby's surprised gaze, she saw something indiscernible flicker in her eyes, but it passed quickly. The brunette put her finger on her chin, humming thoughtfully.

"Hmm... Ooh, I know! You can make me cookies!"

"Really?" She sighed softly, but couldn't keep a grin off of her face. "You mean make, or buy?"

"Well _obviously_ I want you to make them silly! I could just go out and buy some of my own if that's what I wanted. But I really love your cookies, so that'll be my payment!"

"Well, alright then. I haven't baked in a while, so don't expect anything too special."

"Something tells me I'll love them no matter what," Ruby whispered.

"Speak up Ruby, I can't hear you when you mumble like that." Cars were driving by as well, making it doubly hard for the heiress to hear Ruby's statement. "And the traffic doesn't help either. You have to remember to take your surroundings into account when you speak."

_"Well at least I'm feeling good enough to lecture her."_

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "I just said that uh, I'll probably like them anyway. Can't screw up cookies you know?"

"Oh trust me, you can. Now, if I'm going to do this I'll need ingredients, so we'll have to go to a store."

"Yeah we can just stop by one on the way back to the air station. I mean, we've pretty much missed school today anyway. Might as well take our time getting back."

Weiss glared at Ruby, attempting to non-verbally reprimand her for openly admitting to slacking. "If you say so. I for one, happen to enjoy learning new things. And you should welcome the opportunity as well. Dust knows you need more knowledge pounded into that thick skull of yours."

"Yeesh, stop lecturing me for one second would you?" She laughed as she said it though, and Weiss knew she was just joking around. She decided to fire back.

"I bet you'd like that, wouldn't you. Well then," she asked in a shrill tone. "What is the principal diet of the female Deathstalker?"

"Beowolves."

"Correct. But what are their secondary and tertiary sources of food?"

"Uh... humans? Berries?"

Weiss stuck her nose up in her air. "Wrong."

"Ugh. That's not fair, that's not even fourth-year stuff. Nobody knows that but crazy Grimm buffs."

"_And_ people who actually study the books they're assigned. You're hopeless. Look, here comes a taxi."

Ruby sighed and followed Weiss' gaze, both of them flagging down the oncoming vehicle. As it slowed down, the heiress spoke up. "Guess what we're doing when we get back to Beacon?"

Ruby gave a groan of utter defeat and slouched over.

"That's right, we're studying. And _if_ you do well, then I'll bake you not one, but **two** batches of cookies."

"At least there's hope," Ruby mumbled. "There's always hope, right?"

* * *

The taxi rolled slowly down the busy street, weaving in and out of traffic as it sought to reach it's passengers intended destination as quickly as possible. Less time on each trip meant more trips in a workday, and more trips meant more money. Such was the life of a taxi driver.

Ruby was slouched over against the right side window, giving Weiss the opportunity to gaze out of the other one, and sometimes back at her partner, and just think. She rested her chin on the palm of her hand and watched the bustling city slide by.

_"Things only get easier from here,"_ she told herself. "_We'll just be like this, partners and friends, until the end of graduation. Then I'll get married to someone, and she'll forget about cranky old Weiss and get to be a Huntress, just like she dreamed about. She'll get her happily ever after, probably meet some great guy that really cares about her, and that'll be that. And I'll fade away into obscurity, just like I want."_

She turned slowly and looked at Ruby, smiling at the placid expression on her face, watching her chest slowly rise and fall. She looked perfectly tranquil and at peace with the world. Completely free from guilt, worry, strife, and regret. _Free._

Weiss smiled sadly, realizing that this was how things had to be. For Ruby to be happy, she had to bury her own feelings.

Slowly, she leaned over and placed a feather-light kiss on Ruby's forehead. Her skin was warm and soft against the heiress' lips.

_"This is enough for me. It has to be."_

* * *

"Ooh! I love those cheese crackers! And oh look, they've got Bo-Cola! Let's get some icing too! Icing cookies! Oh my gah are those pizza rollers!? Oh don't forget milk. And more soda. We need more of that. More of everything actually! And remember orange juice, we definitely need some-

"Ruby!"

"Huh?"

They were walking down the aisles of a local grocery store, the sickly aromas of rubber flooring and sterilized packaging drifting through the air, along with the scents of various foods. Ruby was inspecting every single item, on either side of the aisle, flickering back and forth with the help of her semblance.

"I swear, shopping with you is like shopping with a small child. We're _only_ here to get the things I need to bake you cookies. Flour, baking soda, salt, butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs," she listed off.

"Aaand milk."

Weiss looked confused. "Milk? You don't need milk to make cookies you dolt."

"Well what do you want me to dip them in, tap water?"

Weiss grimaced. "Ugh, whatever. Just, go and get the milk then. Most of the ingredients I need are on the same aisle anyway."

Ruby saluted comically. "Aye aye Major Schnee! Sergeant Rose has received her mission, and is off to secure the precious cargo!"

Her partner sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Just go."

The taller girl giggled and dropped the salute, then turned around and walked off towards the back of the store where the frozen and refrigerated goods were kept. Weiss turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Ruby sighed and took her time getting to the milk. While she walked, she thought about Weiss. As usual. She couldn't keep the other girl off of her mind.

_"Well, at least things are sorta back to normal. We're not really awkward anymore. She's lecturing me again, at least. I guess... I think I could be okay with this. It'll be a while, but I think I can... get over her..." _For some reason, the thought of simply "getting over" Weiss felt like a horrible betrayal of the other girl. Almost as if she had a duty to save the heiress from herself.

_"Ah, here we are, milk." _

She spared a cursory glance up and down the aisle, vaguely noticing that it was vacant except ford a man in a grey sweatshirt, who appeared to be comparing brands of orange juice.

_"Now... what kind of milk do I want..."_

The different brands and fat percentages all seemingly shouted at her, pleading with her to choose them and not the others.

_"Hmm. Two percent is the best, but I don't know if I should be drinking that much fat. Well, obviously not skim, that stuff tastes like crap. What about one percent?"_

Being completely absorbed in the world of the thirty-first great milk debate, she didn't hear or see the man in the sweatshirt slowly walk up behind her.

As if in a dream, she heard the distinctive click of a safety being flicked off. Something cold and hard pressed up against the back of her head.

"C'mon lady, let's make this quick. Just give me everything in your pockets and I'll go." The man sounded tired, as if he had done this many times before and was growing weary of it.

Ruby froze, her combat instincts kicking in and her brain racing.

_"Crap, I don't have Crescent Rose. Can I grab the gun?"_

Even with her speed, she realized, she might not be able to move fast enough. If he had left the pistol on safe, she could have used her semblance to turn the tables. But with it off, who knew how fast his reflexes were. She still had to brace herself, broadcasting her movements, before she was able to move as quickly as she needed. And something in his tone told her that he wouldn't hesitate to end her life if he had too. He sounded done. Done with life, done with the world. A man with nothing to lose.

Ruby realized she had heard that tone before, from someone else. The realization hit her like a freight train.

_"Weiss. Weiss has sounded like that sometimes. Is she just like him? Finished with it all?"_

Unfortunately she had concerns more pressing at the moment than Weiss' mental state.

"Lady, I'm warning you, stop stalling or I'll blow your brains all over the milk. And that'd be pretty unpleasant."

"Uh, you do know they have cameras in this place right?"

She could hear the sneer in his voice as he replied. "Obviously that's why I had them disabled before this. Now quit _fucking_ stalling. I don't wanna kill you, but I will."

Just as he finished speaking, in her soul she felt a familiar aura flare up a small distance from her. It was strange feeling, like a sixth sense with no dimensions. Just a vague concept of distance with an emphasis on familiarity. It felt like reaching out into utter darkness and feelings someones fingers brush your own. But instead of fingers, everyone was wearing a distinctive type of textured glove, and you could recognize the glove they were wearing and take their hand.

Judging from how cold it felt, and the fact that it was somehow familiar to her, she determined that it must be Weiss'. The heiress' aura must have felt her own flare up in response to the life-or-death situation, sort of like a spiritual SOS. If Weiss knew she was in danger, then she realized all she had to do was wait this out. Weiss would come for her.

_"Okay Ruby, commence operation stall-the-crap-out-of-this-guy."_

"What if someone sees you and just calls the cops? I doubt you could get out the front entrance quickly enough before they show up."

"Well obviously I'll just run out the employee exit in the back. What, you think this is my first robbery or- hey! I see what you're doing!"

He grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and spun her around, forcing her backwards against the chilled glass of the milk display. She winced as he dug his fingers in around her collarbone.

"Don't you **touch** her!"

The man spun in surprise, just in time to howl in pain as Weiss furiously drove a large kitchen knife into his shoulder. He dropped the gun and collapsed to the floor. Furious, Weiss knelt next to him, the knife still firmly lodged in his flesh. She slapped him hard across the face.

"Look at me!"

He opened his eyes and looked up, pain evident in his scrunched up features.

She glared at him with eyes like glaciers. When she spoke, her tone was low and threatening, as deadly as a viper.

"You're lucky she's here. Otherwise, I would end your life right here, right now. I am Weiss Schnee, and the police wouldn't be able to pin a single thing on me. Be thankful to Ruby for your life." With that, she twisted the knife slightly, and yanked it out of his shoulder. "What little it's worth," she spat.

A few people had started to gather at the edges of the aisle, holding their hands over their mouths and gasping in shock. A few were on their scrolls or cell phones, undoubtedly calling the police.

"Wow."

Weiss jolted, glancing to her right as if she had forgotten Ruby was there.

"Oh... uh, sorry you had to see that Ruby."

"Relax. We've killed dozens of Grimm, remember? A little blood is nothing new."

"Yes but, this is... a human."

"You're acting like this is the first time I've been mugged. Well, attempted to be... mugged. Something like that. I got into Beacon by beating the snot out of a bunch of Torchwick's goons who were robbing a dust store. Forget about that?"

"Yes, I remember. Sometimes I just forget how... grown up you are."

The man on the ground finally spoke up. "Can you two shut up and get me some fucking help?! She stabbed me in the arm!"

"You were going to shoot my partner," Weiss yelled back.

"Yeah, well I didn't!"

"Because I stabbed you!"

_"Ooh crap she's getting angry again. I better get her out of here before she stabs that guy. Again."_

Ruby gently laid her hand on Weiss' shoulder. "Cmon, let's just go outside and wait for the cops. We don't need to sit here and talk to this a-hole."

The heiress sighed gently, almost as if Ruby's touch was enough to calm her down. _"Heh, I wish,"_ she thought._  
_

"You're right." The white-haired girl looked up and smiled at her partner, and Ruby's heart melted. "But aren't you forgetting something?"

"Uh... the knife?"

Weiss smirked. "The milk?"

"Oh right! Hey, since I almost got shot, do I get a double batch of cookies?"

The heiress chuckled softly. "We'll see."

* * *

The sun was setting. But it wasn't leaving without giving the world a goodbye present. A magnificent kaleidoscope of orange, purple, red, and every shade in between could be seen decorating the massive cloud banks hanging high up in the air. Closer towards the top of the sky was the deep blue of space, and a few stars could already be seen twinkling in the heavens.

Ruby and Weiss walked side by side down the cobblestone pathway that led from the air station to Beacon Academy. They were both doing their best not to walk too close to each other, but for some reason their hands and arms kept brushing together. Every time it happened Weiss tried to hide her blush, and Ruby pretended to look up into the sky. And still, neither of them made a move to walk any further apart.

"This is a really pretty sunset huh?" Ruby's face lit up in a gentle smile, and the setting sun lit fires in her eyes and gave her face a radiant glow. Weiss couldn't help but stare.

Ruby bumped into her again, jolting her back into reality. She smiled in agreement. "Yes, it is. Probably one of the most beautiful things I've seen here."

_"And you're one of them,"_ she wanted to finish, as a light blush colored her cheeks. _"Ugh, when did I turn into a hopeless romantic?"_

They were nearing their dorm when Ruby's scroll started to play an uplifting, upbeat song.

Weiss sighed, she remembered how Ruby had set that song as the ringtone for a message from Yang. And honestly, she just wanted to be alone with her partner for as long as possible.

"Yang?" she asked.

"Yeap," Ruby replied. "She wants to know what time I'll be back. Ugh, she can be so overprotective. I mean It's not like I'm nineteen or anything crazy like that."

"Did you let her know we'll be up shortly?"

Ruby looked confused. "Uh, no, but I was about to. Why?"

"If you tell her we'll be a little while longer, we can watch the sunset from that bench by the oak tree."

"Ooh, you mean the one on that big hill?!"

Weiss smiled, amused at how easily Ruby could get excited over seemingly trivial thing. It had been one of the quirks that annoyed her the most when she was still getting to know the girl. Now, it was one of her favorite things about her. "Cmon, let's go."

Ruby giggled and sent the message to Yang, before following Weiss away from the dorms and towards the vast cliff side.

On a large hill near the edge of the cliff-top stood a magnificent oak tree. The view was fantastic: the City of Vale in all it's splendor. The tree itself was old and grey, but its leaves were just as green as they had been when it was young. Its branches were thick and gnarled, providing plenty of shade to passers-by during the hot summer months.

Under the tree was an ancient stone bench that faced the cliff, with no back, because the backing was the trunk of the oak itself. For some reason, the branches on the cliff-facing side of the tree curled upwards as they grew, which provided for a grand view that encompassed the sky and the city itself when one sat upon the bench.

All in all, it was a place where someone could sit for hours, and simply gaze out upon the world.

Ruby ran up the hill like a little girl, slipping once or twice as she lost her footing in the thick grass.

"Don't trip you dolt! You'll break something like that!" Weiss herself was striding up the hill with dignity and grace, careful to take measured steps.

"Oh please, I'd never- oof!"

Ruby lost her footing just at the top, falling onto her side and rolling back down the hill a bit. Weiss bent down and dragged her partner up by the hood of her cloak.

The white-haired girl sighed gently. "What would you do without me?"

Ruby smiled down at her. "I dunno, probably die or something. Thanks."

The brunette carefully trudged the last few steps up to the top of the hill. She bent over and brushed some old leaves from the bench, and they caught in the wind and went floating out over the cliff-top. Gesturing for Weiss to take a seat first, she sat down to the heiress' right.

They sat there in silence, gazing out at the setting sun. Close, but not close enough to be uncomfortable. The air was warm and almost nostalgic, a memory of their first year at Beacon when they would come here together to watch the sunset. A bored Ruby had found Weiss here one day, and remarked on how lonely Weiss looked silhouetted against the fading sun. Weiss had told her not to worry about it, but Ruby had followed her to the hill ever since. This was the first time they had done this in a few months. A gently breeze rustled through the grass and the leaves of the oak, stirring them with a rustling sound. Weiss glanced at Ruby, noticing that the girl had her head in the clouds. The fading sunlight streaming through the leaves danced upon her face as the wind blew the branches to and fro. A faint smile played on her lips, which seemed unusually round and red to the heiress.

_"Almost... inviting..." _She mentally shook herself, wishing yet again that she could be rid of her feelings for Ruby. _"I can do this. I can let her go. This is no problem. No problem for a Schnee. We're cold, and hard, and we've always been that way. I can do this."_

"Hey Weiss?"

The heiress jumped a little, and Ruby glanced at her in confusion. "You okay?"

"Yes I was just... distracted by the sunset."

"Heh, yeah, it's really pretty. Um, so anyway, I just wanted to thank you for saving my life back at the store." Ruby kicked her legs back and forth nervously. "I know it might not seem like much, but I was actually closer to dying right then that I have been in a long time. That guy would have pulled the trigger in a few more seconds. I could... feel it."

The realization that her partner had almost died was something she had been trying not to acknowledge, but Ruby's words forced her to. They awoke the fears that she had been trying not to face. Her partner had almost died. _Died_. She had experienced a life without Ruby before, that much was true. But she hadn't experienced a life where Ruby didn't exist. Where Ruby was gone, with no hope of ever coming back. The thought sent such a brutal pang of despair into her heart that for a second, she lost the ability to breathe.

_"Could I stand living anymore, knowing that I never told her how I felt? She's right, we only have one life... one life to do with as we choose... but what do I choose? What do I want? Is this, this partnership, this friendship with the most amazingly beautiful and kind woman I have ever met enough? Is this enough for me?"_ Her thoughts seemed to scream at her._ "**Is this enough!?**"  
_

"Weiss? Hey, you okay?"

She snapped her head to the right, nearly bumping into Ruby's forehead as the brunette recoiled backwards.

"Whoah, what's wrong? You were gasping for air there for a sec. Were you like, hyperventilating?""

"No I'm... I'm fine."

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" There was a sad look in Ruby's eyes as she said that, and Weiss realized that she probably still felt hurt after what had been said earlier, in the hotel room.

_"Right, anything. Anything but this."_

She felt something warm on her hand. She looked down, to see that Ruby had placed her comparatively larger hand over her own. The touch was electric, tingling and strange. But she didn't recoil or draw her hand back, because she liked it. Ruby's hand fit over hers like a piece of a puzzle slotting into another; it felt _right_ somehow. And it was more than just a physical feeling, it was Ruby displaying the simplest way that she could that she was there for her. It filled her heart with warmth, and she didn't want the sensation to ever end.

"So are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

She looked back up, only to find Ruby staring right at her, her storm-cloud grey eyes seeming to pierce her soul. She stared right back, unable to break the gaze. There was something else in Ruby's eyes, something she hadn't seen before. Something that danced around in the fading sunlight, just beyond her understanding.

_"Wait..."_

There it was: a hidden maturity, a soft glint of wisdom. And that was when she realized that Ruby wasn't naive. It wasn't as if she wasn't aware of what dangers the world held and how cruel it could be. It wasn't as if she was ignorant as to what fate could befall her and her friends. No, she understood far more than anyone gave her credit for. It was amazing, she had seen the worst life had to offer. Muggings, robbings, murders, entire villages slaughtered by Grimm, Weiss knew she had even seen her own mother die. And yet through all of that, Ruby _chose_, by sheer force of will to remain happy and upbeat. She took all the world could throw at her with open arms, and simply accepted it with a smile. She didn't let the world drag her down. She was free of it; she had decided to take her own path. To find her own happiness.

_"Happiness. She is choosing... to find her own happiness. Isn't that what we all deserve, in the end? The right to choose?"_

Ruby smiled at her, as if encouraging her to speak her mind. As if to show her that she would accept whatever Weiss had to say with no judgement or repercussions.

_"More than anyone else has ever done for me."_

Ruby squeezed her hand slightly, and the sensation sent a warm tingling from her fingers to her spine, down to her legs and back up again. The last few rays of sunlight danced on Ruby's face and in her eyes. Weiss decided it was the most gorgeous thing she had ever seen.

_"Is this... enough?_"

She felt her aura flare up, perhaps in response to the intensity of the emotions she was experiencing. And Ruby's flared up in return.

_"This is not enough. This is **not** enough. **This is not enough**!"_

She decided in a fraction of a second; she would confess all her feelings to Ruby. No hesitation, no second-guessing, no dreading the repercussions. She had to tell her now, while the moment was perfect. Before she could talk herself out of it and regret it for the rest of her life. Because now she finally realized, that simply being partners and friends with Ruby wasn't enough. She wanted more. She_ n__eeded _more. If she ever wanted to experience true and lasting happiness in this short life-time, she realized, she would have to take a leap of faith.

_"And at least if she doesn't reciprocate these feelings, I can just forget about them, and that'll be that. But first... I have to tell her. Consequences be damned."_

She was ready. It was now or never.

She opened her mouth, ready to speak her mind, _finally_, after _so_ damn long of bottling everything up inside. She wasn't nervous. Not anymore.

But then something unexpected happened. Maybe it was because of the physical attraction to Ruby that she had denied having for so long. Maybe it because she knew, deep down, that words would fail her if she tried to use them. Maybe it was something more instinctive, more primal. Whatever the reason, her gaze slipped downwards slightly, from Ruby's eyes to her lips. They looked so soft and inviting, the gentlest shade of red imaginable. That was the last thing she remembered thinking, her last conscious thought.

Her mind went blank. She vanished into a beautiful white and crimson space, pleasantly lost and floating in an incredible feeling of warmth and acceptance. Vaguely, she realized that she wanted to stay here. This place was safe.

But then a soft moaning drew her back into reality. She opened her eyes, not remembering ever closing them in the first place.

And then those same eyes went wide with shock. Ruby's face was less than an inch from her own. And her eyes were as wide as Weiss'. The alien sensation coming from her lips confirmed it.

She was kissing Ruby. She was _**kissing**_, Ruby.

* * *

_"Oh my... oh my gah... she's-she's kissing me! Weiss is kissing me! Mmm, cherry lip balm! But she's kissing me!"_

Ruby froze up. Not due to any conscious decision on her part, but simply because she hadn't prepared for, even _considered_ the possibility that this might, in her wildest dreams, actually happen. One second, Weiss had been staring at her, like she had been about to say something. But then, out of nowhere, Weiss had leaned forward and placed her lips upon her own.

To say Ruby was surprised would be a heinous understatement. She didn't know whether to feel happy, relieved, scared, nervous, or everything in between. Weiss' lips were firm and smooth, and almost cold. She didn't care though. Weiss' lips could have been made of sandpaper for all it mattered to her. What mattered is that the heiress was kissing her._ Weiss was kissing her._

The kiss, if one could call it that, lasted only a few seconds. Ruby stayed stock-still the entire time, her shell-shocked mind struggling to make sense of the situation and formulate an appropriate response.

Unfortunately though, it seemed Weiss had interpreted her apparent paralyzation as something else. The heiress drew back suddenly, wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve and glancing around with crazed eyes. Her gaze met Ruby's, and the brunette could see the fear- no, the terror in them.

Weiss stumbled backwards off of the bench, slipping in the grass as she sprinted down the hill. Ruby was screaming at her body, willing it to move, to act, to do something, anything.

"W-Weiss... come back..." she managed to croak._ "Why is she running from me?!"_

But by then, the heiress was already gone.

In the distance, the sun disappeared beneath the horizon.

* * *

Ruby was an unstoppable ball of motion, a crimson blur picked out by the light of the moon. She never stopped moving, never stopped looking, searching, exploring every nook and cranny of Beacon Academy. Looking for one thing. Looking for Weiss.

Her thoughts were racing nearly as fast as her feet were, and for someone whose semblance was speed, that was an impressive feat. The other students were all either asleep or in their rooms at this point. The campus was empty and silent, save for the sound of rushing wind as Ruby flew down its stone pathways. Somehow this make Beacon's gothic architecture appear ominous and intimidating; the towering arches and vacant towers looming over her with an unspoken threat.

She was starting to panic, and that was a rare thing these days. She had grown so much stronger over the past few years, in mind as well as body. She was easily able to remain calm even in the thick of a heated battle. But here she was, speeding through empty hallways and shadowed corridors, her mind showing her images of all the worst possible outcomes.

_"What is she grabs her stuff and leaves? Wait, no, I already checked our room, her stuff was still there. But what if she just leaves it all and takes an airship? What if she runs into Forever Fall? Or back down to Vale? What if she..." _Ruby halted that train of thought, unwilling to follow it down to its morbid destination.

She finished her circuit of the gardens and stopped to catch her breath. Frantically, she looked in all directions, searching for any sign of her wayward partner. Unexpectedly, her eyes alighted upon a rosebush not three feet from her. She smiled sadly, and walked over and plucked one. A fragile thing of crimson, yet still brilliant even in the darkness. She tucked it in behind her ear, for good luck.

_"I have to find her. Before she does something stupid."_

Gazing upwards, she found her view of the moon blocked by Beacon's giant signature tower.

_"Aha, that's it! Enough of this ground-level crap, I'm taking this to the rooftops."_

Ruby unlimbered Crescent Rose from her back; she had collected it from her room earlier just to be safe. It whirred and snapped as it unfolded, and she twirled around with it as it did so. She loved that noise, that feeling of becoming one with her scythe. To her, it almost felt like when her aura intertwined with Weiss', just not as visceral or warm. Or real, for that matter, although she would argue that Crescent Rose had a soul until her opponent's ears bled.

She held the scythe with the blade facing away from her and nodded to herself. Taking off suddenly with a burst of speed, she sped across the garden, trees and bushes whipping around in her wake. Reaching the wall of a nearby three-story building, she kicked up against it and braced her legs. And then she ran straight up. As she reached the top, she hooked the tip of her scythe on a ledge jutting from the roof, using it to swing herself back down so that she didn't keep flying up into the air.

Taking a second to gather her bearings, she took off along the edge of the roof, her eyes scanning the grounds for any sign of Weiss.

Nothing.

_"Gotta get higher."_

Grimacing, she took a running leap from the rooftop, using her semblance to gain height. Swinging Crescent Rose in mid-air, she lodged the blade in the side of one of Beacon tower's steeples. She hung off of the side of the spire, her feet firmly planted sideways on the rough shingles. From her new vantage point she surveyed the grounds again, her desperation heightening with every passing second. Just as she was about to climb even higher, she glimpsed a spot of white in the distance.

_"There she is!"_

Without a moment of hesitation, she twisted the blade out of the wood and let herself drop into a free-fall. After a few stories, she brought her feet up to the wall, and began running down it. Right when she reached the third story she kicked off, and used her semblance to turn herself into a whirling projectile of crimson.

She flashed across the night sky in a blur, covering half of the campus in only a few seconds. Holding Crescent Rose out to the side, she flipped the blade so that the flat end would drag through the air, ceasing her spinning and leveling her out. She was much closer now. She could see Weiss now. The girl was standing on the edge of their dorm's rooftop, gazing off into the distance. The moon had been covered by a cloud, but the remaining starlight still shimmered off of the heiress' snow-white hair. It was if she had cut a strip of astral matter from the night sky and hung it from her head, deciding that human hair wasn't fit to grace her radiant form.

_"Oh c'mon, I already looked on the roof!" _She swung her feet out in front of her and slowed even more, realizing she was about to land. _"Wait, why is she on the edge of... NO."_

Terror clutched her heart with an iron grip as she landed on the opposite end of the roof.

_"I have to get to her, __**now**__."_

She focused harder, forcing her body to fly across the rooftop, legs moving faster than what the human body was capable of. She crossed the roof in the blink of an eye.

Just as Weiss took another shaky step towards the edge, Ruby slammed into her at almost full speed, catching her in her arms and carrying her along. The heiress' shriek was drowned out by the rushing wind.

_"Gah, I overshot! Think fast Ruby!"_

With one arm holding Weiss and the other gripping her scythe she twisted in midair, hooking the tip of Crescent Rose onto the protruding lip of the roof as she shot past it. She used it to alter her momentum, swinging downwards, right into-

_"Ohcrapthewindow!"_

Clutching Weiss to her protectively, the other girl squeezing her just as hard, she smashed through the fourth-story window and flew into the room it led into. She squeezed her eyes shut, and felt a sickening pain as she slammed into something hard and unyielding. She must have lost consciousness for a second, because when she opened her eyes, all she saw was Weiss staring down at her with a look of concern and fear.

"Ruby! Are you alright? Say something you dolt!"

"H-hey Weiss..." She groaned and tried to stand, but her vision swam and she gave up.

"Don't try to stand you dunce, you nearly broke your spine on this metal shelf!" Weiss gestured to the offending object as she talked.

"A... shelf? Where are we?" Glancing around, she nsaw that they were in a small, dark room, with metal shelves and brooms lining the walls.

"What does it look like you idiot? We're in a storage closet. Honestly, what were you thinking? You could have gotten both of us killed!"

Weiss' words cut deep, awakening a spark of anger within Ruby, and she shouted back. "Well I'd rather die with you than watch you jump off of the roof!"

Weiss looked taken aback; her eyes grew wide and she opened her mouth in shock. "I-Is that what you thought I was doing?"

"Well what else were you gonna do, getting all close to the edge of the roof like that after running away from me?! And after kissing me too!? What the fuck is wrong with you?!"

The heiress shrunk back, fear and pain evident in her eyes. "I d-didn't mean to do that, please believe me! I just... lost control." Her voice fell and she gazed at the ground forlornly, her hands clasped in her waist as she sat back. Ruby stared at her in shock, the anger she previously felt having been snuffed out as soon as Weiss started speaking.

"Please just... forget about that. I don't want it to affect us as partners, but I-I understand if you don't... if you don't want to be friends anymore. I took advantage of you when you were only trying to be friendly, and I realize that-mmph!"

She nearly tackled the heiress, pinning her to the floor by her arms and capturing her lips in a kiss into which she poured the buried love of an entire year into. She was relieved beyond measure, now that she realized that Weiss had only been afraid of ruining their partnership. _"To be fair though,"_ Ruby thought, _"she had no way of knowing that I loved her..."_

Weiss struggled at first, weakly trying to push Ruby off of her, but after a few seconds she gave in and surrendered to it. The white-haired heiress moaned into the kiss, her hands roaming up and down Ruby's body, grasping whatever she could. Ruby felt her lungs gasping for air, and she broke the kiss for a second, gazing into Weiss' eyes, hopeful, but scared of what she might find. What she saw though, filled her with passion and more love than she had thought could fit into her already overflowing heart.

Her blood pumped faster and faster, and Weiss pulled her back down, kissing her over and over again. The first few were fumbling and awkward, but they quickly got the hang of it. Ruby smiled, unable to keep a massive grin off of her face. In Weiss' eyes, she had seen a mixture of things. But the prominent ones had been longing, passion, and sheer, unadulterated _want_.

That was why Ruby was smiling. As loving as Yang was, her love was a given. It had been a long time since the brunette had felt truly wanted. And to see clear as day that the object of her affections wanted her back? It was a feeling too amazing to clearly describe.

Time slipped away from Ruby, and she got lost in Weiss' passionate kisses and the roaming of her hands. The heiress touched her gently but hungrily at the same time. The feeling of the other girl's body pressed up against her own was almost transcendent, and when Ruby felt the sensation of their auras converging and intertwining to become one, she disappeared into a sensory overload of sheer pleasure and bliss.

Eventually, they slowed down, the kisses becoming less rushed and gentler, their roaming hands finding places on each others body to rest.

Ruby gasped for breath, resting her forehead against Weiss' chest. The heiress grasped her head and pulled it closer, and Ruby nuzzled her face into the other girls neck.

Weiss tried to sound stern and reprimanding, but it ended up just coming out as needy. "D-don't go to sleep you dolt, we can't do this here."

"Why not?"

"Because we're in a supply closet!"

Vaguely, Ruby realized that Weiss was scolding her in an attempt to avoid the inevitable conversation that had to follow. Where they talked about what this meant. Where they talked about the future.

Ruby smiled, pressing a kiss to Weiss' collarbone, the other girl shuddering as she did so. "I don't see a problem with that. This way, no one will find us 'till morning. It'll be just you and me here."

The older girl sighed in response, seemingly unwilling to argue any further. A silence permeated the air, one that was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable. A dozen questions hung in that silence, just waiting for someone to ask them. What does this mean? Where do we go from here? What about your parents? Why did you kiss me? Does this mean we're together? Is this just a one-time thing?

But Ruby chose to ignore them all, instead deciding that her time was better spent slowly running her right hand through Weiss' long, silky hair. The heiress winced, and Ruby pulled back.

"Oh, sorry, I'll stop."

"N-no! I mean... no," she managed to say. "You can keep going... if you want. It's just no one has ever done that with my hair before..."

Ruby giggled, resuming her previous actions. Weiss smiled gently and leaned into the caresses.

"Does it feel good?"

"...Yes. It feels amazing."

Weiss' honest admission warmed Ruby's heart and caused her chest to tighten a little. _"Oooh, she's so cute!" _That was all she had really wanted, for almost a year now. She wanted to make Weiss feel happy, wanted to love her and care for her and protect her. She wanted to make her partner feel beautiful in every sense of the word. And now, she realized as she closed her eyes in sheer bliss, she was finally able to. This was the happiest she had ever been, and she didn't the moment to ever end.

But after a while, Ruby realized that Weiss must be uncomfortable laying on the cold floor of the supply closet. Glancing around, she realized that one of the shelves was stocked with spare pillows and blankets. Gently, she attempted to get up, but Weiss grabbed her by her collar and pulled her back down, a look of panic in her eyes.

"Please..." she whispered, "don't go..."

"Ssshh, relax. I'm not leaving." Ruby pressed another kiss to her lips, long and slow. "I'll be right back, just give me one second. Weiss reluctantly loosened her grip, and Ruby stood up. The heiress shuffled backward and leaned up against the wall, careful to avoid the shattered glass on the floor. With Ruby gone, she clearly felt the chill of the air flowing through the open window, and she started to shiver. The brunette glanced back at her with concern, and hastened what she was doing.

Ruby walked over to the door and locked it, then grabbed a broom and a dust-pan and carefully swept up all the broken glass on the floor. Not finding any place to dump the glass, she simply set the dust-pan on the shelf. After that she gathered as many blankets as she could hold in her arms, using her teeth to drag some pillows down onto the floor for good measure. She dropped the pile of blankets, then picked up the top one and unfolded it, laying it down across the floor. She repeated the process with two more, and then surrounded the blankets with pillows. Weiss looked on in confusion as Ruby created a particularly large pile of pillows near the wall.

She looked at her work in satisfaction, then took the last blanket from the shelf and hung it over the window so that it blocked the wind. Smiling at Weiss, Ruby knelt beside the girl and began unbuckling the heiress' boots. Weiss gasped as she realized what Ruby was doing, and tears began to prick at the corners of her eyes.

"R-Ruby, you don't have to-"

"Sssh. I don't have to, but I want to. I know that taking someone's shoes off for them means a lot back in Atlas, like a gesture of devotion, right? So let me just take care of you tonight.

"...No one's ever done this before... been so nice for nothing in return..."

"Oh trust me," Ruby giggled, "you're rewarding me plenty. You have **no** idea."

After removing the heiress' boots and her own, she lifted the top blanket and gestured for Weiss to get under it.

The smaller girl hesitantly complied, and as soon as she was in, Ruby slipped in beside her. Weiss clasped her hands to her chest, as if she was afraid to make the first move.

_"Geez, she's so cute when she gets all nervous like this. I can't believe this is happening but... I can feel her heartbeat, so this must be real."_

"Oh, come here you." Ruby wrapped her left arm around Weiss' waist and pulled her close, and with her right hand she pulled the blankets up to their necks. The heiress was hesitant at first, but she eventually gave in and snuggled into Ruby. The brunette giggled, only squeezing Weiss tighter as the girl in white blushed profusely. Ruby rubbed their noses together, causing the heiress to grow even redder as a grimace appeared on her pale features.

"I-If you're going to hold me this close you dolt, you better not let me go!"

"Don't worry," Ruby said, pressing a kiss to Weiss' forehead, then her nose, then finally her lips. "I won't."

The heiress sighed in apparent acceptance of Ruby's words and relaxed into the embrace. The mound of pillows and blankets grew warm and soft as their collective body heat mingled in the small space they shared.

Ruby desperately wanted to just let go and relax with Weiss, but there was something she had to know first.

"Weiss?"

"...Yes?"

"...What does this mean? I mean, you don't have to answer that super deeply or anything, I just... I just want to know that I won't wake up alone tomorrow."

"Well I..." Weiss' voice fell off, as she struggled internally to come up with a response. Whatever it was, Ruby hoped that it included her. "This means... that we're more than just friends and partners now. We're something more now but... Ruby, there's still the issue of my parents. You know they'll never accept... this..."

"Weiss." Ruby's tone was hard and firm. "Look at me."

The heiress gazed up into Ruby's stormcloud eyes, finding them unyielding but full of compassion.

"You want this. And for once, don't lie to me and say you don't. I can see it in your eyes right now, the same longing that I've felt for the past year." Weiss seemed startled at this revelation, but Ruby continued. "For once, please, just listen to your heart. This is your life, not your parents, and it's the only one you've got. You've got to make your own choices, and find your own happiness. If you really need to leave me, I'll understand. I'll hate it, but I'll understand. But just for once, do what **you** want, not what **they** want."

The heiress looked down at Ruby's collar, lost in thought. Ruby simply sighed and held her closer, mentally bracing herself for whatever might come.

"You're wrong."

Ruby felt her stomach sink like an anchor dropped into an abyss.

"I don't want this..."

_"Not now... please, not when we're so close..."_

"I _need_ this."

Ruby jolted her head up, gazing into Weiss' eyes with a questioning ferocity. "What do you mean?"

"Just, hear me out. As much as it pains me to admit this, I need you. I need you to feel happy, to feel good about myself, to believe that... to believe that there might be a happy ending for me, somewhere out there. You've never been anything but kind and selfless towards me, and I've never repaid the favor. And it makes me feel horrible, but now, at least I can try to... to like you back. I mean really _like_, not just, you know, like..."

Ruby smiled and pressed her forehead to Weiss', the heiress' gentle breathing tickling her nose. "I understand." A powerful surge of emotions swept her up, and she caught Weiss' face between her hands, kissing her slowly, luxuriously, thoroughly. The heiress returned the kiss with steadily building heat for several moments, before breaking it off to murmur to Ruby, "So... I don't know how my parents will react, or what they'll do, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But I was serious when I said I would start repaying your kindness. So from here on out, we're together. In more ways than one."

Ruby grinned. "So uh, can I call you my girlfriend now?"

Weiss grimaced at the implication. "I guess, just... not around other people. Yet. Give me some time to get used to this..."

Her chest tightened at the heiress' words. Ruby kissed her gently on the lips, savoring the sweet taste of her cherry lip balm. "I'll give you all the time in the world. So uh... one more question?"

Weiss sighed. "What."

"Does this... does this mean you're a lesbian now? I don't mean to pry or anything, but I didn't know you liked girls..."

She expected Weiss to respond with a sarcastic remark or a biting rebuke, but she seemed to take the question seriously. The heiress gazed into Ruby's eyes, mere inches from her own. "That's the strange part. I've never been attracted to men, or even girls for that matter. It's just... you. You're... you're the only person I've ever felt this way towards. So, since you're a girl... maybe that does make me gay. I don't really care at this point."

Ruby giggled softly, rubbing her nose against Weiss' before the other girl could shrink back from the contact. "Hee hee, fair enough. So you're Rubysexual then."

"You dolt!" Weiss whispered harshly. "You can't just make up terms for sexuality like that!"

"I just did. Now sshh, and let's go to sleep. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty tired."

Ruby glanced down, realizing that Weiss hadn't responded. She looked uncertain, almost scared.

"Hey," Ruby asked gently. "Are you okay with this? Sleeping together?"

"I-I suppose... I just, I've never really..."

Ruby looked at her with concern. "Never what?"

"Never... slept with anyone before."

"Wha... you mean you never slept with your mom when you had a nightmare or something?"

Weiss frowned. "No they... my parents always locked their door. I tried knocking some nights but... they never opened up."

Ruby reacted instantly, pulling Weiss closer and kissing her on the neck, gently caressing it with her lips in an attempt to make the heiress feel loved. "I'm _soooo_ sorry Weiss. But let me make it all up to you. From here on out, I'll give you all the love your parents never did."

The heiress seemed to blanch at the word love, but she didn't say anything, nor did she attempt to pull away from Ruby's tender ministrations.

"Well then just... don't let go tonight, okay? If we're going to wake up together, I don't want to find you off in the corner with all the blankets or something."

Ruby snorted, struggling to maintain her composure. "Heh heh, trust me, I don't think sleepy Ruby would ever let you go. Hey... there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What, besides, 'are you gay for me?'"

Ruby laughed out loud this time. "Haha, no silly! Well I mean, yeah but... uh..." Her voice grew quieter, and her voice took on a serious cast. "Do you feel like... like our auras are, I don't know, connecting?"

Weiss' eyes went wide, as if she thought that she was the only one that could feel it. "I, I did! I mean, it feels like our auras are, well, almost becoming one. Like they're forming a bond, or something similar."

Ruby smiled and nuzzled into Weiss' neck, the older girl grimacing in response. But she made no move to push Ruby away. "Good. Now even our souls are together. Holy crap that's romantic! And don't worry. I won't let you go tonight. Or the next night, if you'll let me. Or the night after that, or the night after that, or the night after-"

"Alright alright, I get it you dolt," Weiss said with a giggle. "Now shush up and let me go to sleep."

Ruby smiled contentedly, wrapping her arms around her partners waist, barely able to believe that they were now partners in more ways than one.

Their bodies pressed up against each other, and they both held the other as close as possible.

Their auras wrapped around each other, drawing from and giving the other strength. Crimson and white mixed and melded, both retaining their identities, but each growing more vivid from the merging.

Perhaps due to the combining of their aura, their heartbeats slowed, and eventually, matched each other beat for beat.

Ruby felt Weiss relax against her as sleep took her, the heiress' soft breath tickling the top of her hair as she nuzzled into her neck.

"I won't leave you," she whispered. "Not now, not ever."

* * *

**_I really hope you guys enjoyed that. _**

**_So, do you want the bad news, or the bad news? Alright, bad news it is._**

**_I'm leaving tomorrow for a week-long jungle warfare training course. Meaning I will be in the jungle until next Sunday. And I obviously can't bring my laptop and write while I'm drowning in mud and trying not to get bitten by freaking habu snakes. Those fuckers are _everywhere_. So yeah, expect at least a week between this chapter and the next, probably more. Sorry. But when you're reading this story and wishing the next chapter was out, just think of me, as I flop around in the rain and the mud and eat nothing but MRE's. _**


	5. Chapter 4 - Dämmerung

"_**The night has a thousand eyes,  
And the day but one;  
Yet the light of the bright world dies  
With the dying sun. **_

_**The mind has a thousand eyes,  
And the heart but one:  
Yet the light of a whole life dies  
When love is done.**_

_**-Francis William Bourdillon**_

* * *

"So... ready to go?"

"Not... particularly..." Weiss mumbled. She sighed and relaxed against Ruby, resting her head on the taller girl's chest. Her arms were wrapped around Ruby's waist, and she was wearing a mild grimace on her face, as if she was somehow resentful that she was so dependent on her partner.

It was already noon, and they were missing classes. Again. Weiss knew she should get up, should grab her books and rush right over to the lecture, should be studying and reviewing notes to catch up. But she just couldn't bring herself to move. No matter how hard she willed herself to, she just couldn't remove herself from the warm body pressed up against her own. It was if, deep down, a part of her was scared that if she left now, that warmth would be gone forever.

Ruby's chuckling brought her out of her thoughts.

"What's so funny about this you dolt?"

"Heh, nothing really. I just never though I'd see you miss classes two days in a row. For like, anything."

Weiss buried her face in Ruby's neck, and her words tickled the brunette's chest. "This is... different..."

It was slightly alarming to the heiress that physical contact was so quickly becoming addicting. It had been absent during her life until now. At most, she had received the occasional pat on the back from her father, or a very brief, very light hug from her mother. And it had all seemed forced, fake and unwanted. She had never known what it felt like to truly embrace someone, to feel their skin against your own, to cherish the warmth of their body and listen to the beat of their heart. It was intoxicating. And the sensation was magnified tenfold when she remembered that it wasn't just anybody that she was with. It was Ruby, her partner, that was holding her in her arms.

Ruby giggled softly. "It's funny how you're all nervous about this. I mean, not that that's bad or anything."

Weiss lifted her head slightly and rested her chin on Ruby's chest, gazing up into her silvery eyes. "I don't understand how you're _not_ nervous, you dolt. I mean unless you've..." Her voice trailed off.

"Unless I what?" Ruby asked gently.

Weiss frowned. She dreaded asking the question in her mind for fear of the answer she might receive, but a part of her just had to know. "Have you... have you been with someone... else, before?"

"W-what? No, of course not silly! I mean yeah I've cuddled with Yang before when we would watch movies or something, but that's different." Ruby smiled gently as Weiss' frown turned into an expression of relief and joy. "You're my first girlfriend."

"Me too..." Weiss muttered. She lay her head against the taller girl's collarbone, while Ruby started gently playing with her hair. "But about the whole girlfriend thing, can we keep that between us, at least for now? It's going to take me a while to get used to this idea, and I also don't want my parents finding out somehow."

Ruby kissed the top of the heiress' head. "Of course we can."

"That means no kissing or holding hands in public."

"Ugh, I forgot." Ruby whined in defeat. "Well, can I at least give you more hugs? And are we fine when we're alone in our room?"

Weiss smiled. "Well of course we're fine in our room. And yes, I suppose the occasional hug or two in between classes wouldn't be too bad."

Ruby hummed in satisfaction, and a comfortable silence fell between the two. The brunette gently removed the tiara from the heiress' hair; her fingers had been getting stuck on it earlier. Weiss sighed and relaxed her entire body, as she enjoyed the sensations of Ruby's fingers trailing gently through her ivory tresses. A few minutes passed like this, until the heiress broke the silence.

"Speaking of classes though..."

Ruby groaned.

"I know, I feel the same. But we have that test on survival techniques in Uriarte's class on Wednesday, remember? That's tomorrow."

"Alright," Ruby agreed. "Guess I have to let Yang know I'm alive too. My scroll died last night and she's probably running around looking for me."

The brunette shifted to the side, making room for the heiress to stand up. She straightened her hair and her clothes as she did so, looking down and grimacing at the wrinkles in her outfit.

"We should go back to our room first. Neither of us have showered for two days. And no girlfriend of mine is going to go without a shower when she's around me."

Ruby stood up, surprising Weiss when she pulled her into a close embrace. "Ooh, getting possessive already?"

The heiress rested her head on her partner's shoulder. "Having standards does not equate to being possessive, you dunce."

"I know," Ruby chuckled. "I'm just teasing."

"Well good. Now you get to put away all those blankets and pillows."

Ruby groaned and let her body sag down, dragging Weiss with her.

"R-Ruby!"

* * *

The sound of hurried scribbling filled the room. Students in their school uniforms nervously glanced from handwritten notes to tests, looking back and forth multiple times in the desperate hope that the answers might be in there, _somewhere_.

The sound of one pencil seemed slightly louder than most. The lead of this particular writing utensil was being pressed into the paper with force, and with far more speed than anyone else's. Anyone watching Weiss take that test would have easily been able to deduce that she was angry, but they would have been wrong.

Weiss wasn't angry. She was _furious_.

For once in her life, she had been wrong. The test wasn't on Wednesday. It was on Tuesday. And Weiss hadn't studied, another first in what was quickly becoming a whole week of them. First kiss, first cuddle, first girlfriend, _first surprise test, first time being unprepared for said test._

She grit her teeth and racked her brain, desperately trying to figure out whether or not the juice of uru berries, found in temperate forests around Vale, could properly disinfect an open wound or not.

The problem was, she didn't actually know the answer. She was being forced to guess. Her. Weiss Schnee. _Guessing_. It was unheard of. Never before had she sunken to such an all-time low.

_"When I get done with this... I'm going to kill Ruby..." _

Just as she finished that thought, a crumpled up piece of paper landed on her test, startling her out of her work. She furiously turned around, her ponytail swishing as she looked at each of the students behind her in turn, daring one of them to reveal themselves as the culprit. It would be the last thing they ever did.

No one raised their heads however; each student remained steadfastly focused on their own tests. She turned back to the note, realizing that reading it would probably enable her to find out who had thrown it.

She unfolded it carefully, trying to make the noise of the crinkling paper unnoticeable. Professor Uriarte was notoriously draconian about note passing in his class.

Her face did a strange thing when she read the note. Her eyes widened in surprise, her features contorted in anger, but at the same time, her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

**~ Hey Weiss! Not done with the test yet? I finished already, but that's just because I learned a lot of survival stuff from my Uncle. But I know you can do it, you're way smarter than me!**

**P.S. - You look really really pretty today! Love Ruby Rose :D ~  
**

Weiss slammed her face down onto the wooden desk of the lecture hall, drawing concerned glances from the students around her.

_"Love?! Love?! She has no idea what she's talking about... and the nerve! Throwing notes in class, telling me I'm pretty!"_

She was conflicted. Part of her was angry at Ruby for throwing notes at class, yet another part was amazed at how supportive her partner could be, even in the middle of a test with no easy means of communication. Another part of her felt great, that warm feeling she got whenever Ruby complimented her looks. She had always taken such things as off-hand comments, but now she knew that the brunette truly meant them, in a romantic sense.

And yet still another part of her was disappointed. That part of her knew that Ruby didn't really know what love was, and that she was just exaggerating her feelings for the heiress.

_"Anyway, she doesn't want to fall in love with me. That just won't end well, and anyway, I don't deserve for someone like that be in love with... well, someone like me..."_

And yet, deep down, she desperately hoped that somehow, impossibly, Ruby _might_ actually be in love with her. As terrifying as that thought was, she realized that it would be a reason to finally resist, something she could hold on to.

Maybe then she could commit. Maybe then she would have a reason to fight, a reason to take control of her own life and finally break free of the constricting hold her parents had on her. Maybe.

Glancing up, she searched for Ruby, finding the other girl beaming at her with an encouraging smile. She gently smiled back. As she watched, Ruby tossed another ball of paper in the air, flicking her wrist and sending it across the room with a gust of wind. It was close enough to the roof that the Professor didn't notice it. With a small plop, it landed squarely on her section of the lecture desk.

She hadn't considered Ruby as a potential culprit for the phantom note-passer, because she was on the other side of the room in her assigned seat, and even she wasn't stupid enough to try and toss a note across the room in front of Professor Uriarte. But then, she also had forgotten that Ruby had recently learned to control wind with her semblance. It hadn't been long since the discovery, but the girl could already control gusts of wind strong enough to blow trees nearly sideways if she concentrated hard enough.

She picked up the note with a wry smile and unfolded it.

**~ You still owe me a hug after class :p Now get working! **

**P.S. I'll be waiting in the hallway after ~**

Weiss dropped the note and glared across the room at Ruby.

"I don't need you to tell me what to do!" she mouthed silently.

Ruby cocked her head to the side in puzzlement. "What?" she mouthed back.

Weiss shook her head in exasperation, forcing her eyes downward and back to her test. She attacked the next few problems vigorously, realizing wistfully that Ruby had actually given her the motivation she needed.

She finished a few minutes later. Her ponytail swished from side to side as she strutted down the steps to the Professors desk. After handing in her test, she returned to her seat and sought out Ruby again, only to find the brunette already smiling at her.

"Thank you," Weiss mouthed.

Ruby's smile simply grew wider.

Unbeknownst to both of them, higher up in the lecture hall, Yang's piercing gaze had observed the entire thing. She had finished her test earlier, and was simply waiting to hand it in. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the two partners, who were grinning at each-other like lovestruck idiots.

_"Just what are you two up to..."_

* * *

At the end of class, Weiss packed away her papers and watched Ruby head out into the hallway. Due to her seat being near the front of the class, she was one of the last ones to leave.

She was about to exit the door, but a hand on her shoulder prevented her from doing so.

"Yang?"

The blonde smiled at her, but something about it was off. The glint in her eyes and the tilt of her grin made it seem somewhat... predatory.

"Sup Weiss. Just wanted to ask you something."

Weiss knew trouble when she saw it. She made a move to slip past the girl, but the hand stayed firmly planted on her shoulder and prevented her from leaving. "I have to get to my next class Yang, what do you need?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to ask if there was anything going on between you and Ruby."

_"Ah yes, ever the overprotective sister." _Weiss knew she would have to tell Yang before long, but for now, she was still getting used to the idea herself.

"No, nothing." A blatant lie. Yang's eyes narrowed, and she stared at Weiss for a few seconds, just long enough to make the heiress start to feel uncomfortable.

But then the moment was gone, as Yang switched back to her usual grin. "Alrighty then! Good luck in your next class. I'll seeya later."

Weiss quickly turned to go, but Yang called back before she could. "Oh, one more thing! If anything happens to Ruby, and I mean _anything_, the person responsible is gonna be in a world of hurt. Just food for thought. Seeya!"

Yang promptly turned around and walked off, striding down the hallway without a backwards glance.

Weiss watched her go, and she would be lying to herself if she said she didn't feel threatened. Yang was like a mother bear, she realized, and would do anything to protect one of her cubs if she felt it was hurt in any way. A disturbing analogy if there ever was one.

She shuddered and walked the opposite way, her tiara bouncing along with her hurried steps. She was determined to find Ruby before her next class.

* * *

The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly overhead, creating a harsh glare in the windows of Beacon's various buildings. Weiss was walking across the campus, down a cobblestone pathway that was lined on either side by shoulder-high bushes. In Weiss' case, they were head-high.

"Psst, Princess!"

She froze and glanced around, trying to find the source of the whisper. Before she could, a hand shot out of the brush and closed around her arm. It dragged her through a concealed hole in the bushes, into a small clearing just big enough for two people to stand a comfortable distance apart.

A hand closed itself over her mouth before she could shriek, and she whipped around with fury in her eyes to discover to identity of her abductor.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to be rough but I wanted to get you in here before anyone saw!"

It was only Ruby. The fire in her eyes died away, as the brunette removed her hands from the heiress' arm and mouth.

Weiss half-heartedly shoved her shoulder, sending her reeling to the side. "Don't ever do that again you stupid dolt! You scared me half to death!"

Ruby hung her head, appearing for all the world like a kicked puppy. "O-oh... I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Her eyes lit up as she seemed to remember something, and she brought a white tulip out from behind her back. "I-I got this for you! I found it while I was walking here and it just looked really pretty, sorta like you, and I thought you'd like it."

Weiss deflated a little at the sight of the flower, realizing that she might have been a tad harsh on Ruby, who after all, was only following her wishes by trying to keep their relationship a secret.

"...It's okay. I'm sorry for pushing you, I didn't mean it."

Ruby grinned brightly. "I know you didn't."

Weiss gratefully accepted the flower. She tucked it in above her right ear, and Ruby's face lit up when she saw it. "Woowww, you're so beautiful..."

The older girl blushed furiously and looked down at the ground. She still wasn't used to receiving compliments so openly and honestly.

"T-thank you... but we really should get to our classes," Weiss mumbled.

"Oh right, heh, I almost forgot. Um... can I... can we..." Ruby kicked her foot back and forth nervously, and Weiss lifted her head to meet her eyes. An unspoken question lingered in them.

"If you want to kiss me, dolt," she whispered, "you can."

Ruby's eyes lit up, and she nervously reached her arms out to encircle Weiss' waist and pull her closer. Weiss moved to do the same, realizing that she was just as apprehensive about it. She knew that they had kissed before, but this time, out in the light, without being in the heat of the moment, it was different. They were both fully conscious of what they were about to do.

Ruby moved her head forward, Weiss hesitantly matching her movements. The heiress closed her eyes and leaned forward, pursing her lips, while her heart pounded so furiously it almost hurt.

Their teeth clacked together, and both girls recoiled in pain. Ruby started apologizing profusely. "Sorry! Sorry sorry, I just, I'm sorry!"

Weiss smiled gently, amused at Ruby's nervousness, despite how honest and genuine she knew her partner's affection to be. "Just shut up and try again."

"O-okay."

This time, Ruby didn't hesitate, and met Weiss' lips in a forceful kiss, leaning into it and humming giddily. Burning heat poured through the heiress' veins as she reveled in the sensation, in the warmth of Ruby's embrace and the knowledge that someone truly cared about her enough to be intimate with her. It was something that she had fully expected to go her whole life without.

Dimly, she noted that Ruby tasted of pineapple lip balm, which tingled slightly. She didn't care.

Two students passed by, talking normally as they walked to their next class. It drew Weiss back into reality, and she remembered that she had scant minutes left before she had to be at her next class.

She drew back slowly, regretting every moment of it. "Mmm, w-we have to, we have to go our classes Ruby."

Ruby bit her lower lip and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. That was... really nice. We should do that again. Sometime."

Weiss smiled happily. Again. She would get to do this again. The thought filled her with uncharacteristic joy. "Of course."

"I'll go first," Ruby said. She darted forward and pecked Weiss on the cheek, then just as quickly disappeared through the small hole in the bush.

Weiss stood there for a few seconds longer, staring at the empty space Ruby left. Slowly, she lifted her hand to her cheek. She could still feel the ghost of her partner's lips upon it. Her heart was still beating erratically.

_"This is bad..."_ she thought to herself. _"Is this what falling in love feels like?"_

* * *

Ruby grimaced as she looked down at her tray. "I think these are the same mashed potatoes from yesterday."

Yang took a bite, mirroring her sister's expression of distaste. "Blech – it sure tastes like it."

Weiss laid her fork down and pushed her tray away from herself. "You'd think that the most prestigious Hunting academy in Vale could do better."

"Or the cafeteria staff might just be getting lazy again," Blake said.

"Ooh, I hope so," Yang said. "I'd love to see Goodwitch get all pissed at them again."

Blake glanced at her sideways. "I think you're actually the only one who likes seeing Ms. Goodwitch yell at people. Are you just glad because she's not yelling at you?"

"Hey that's not fair-"

"Evening ladies."

Neptune slid into the seat between Weiss and Ruby, the latter glaring at him.

"Some things never change, huh?" Yang remarked with a grin. "Grimm kill people, dust blows stuff up, and Neptune keeps trying to flirt with every girl in a five mile radius."

"You say that like it doesn't work most of the time," he replied with a grin of his own. "So, Weiss, how about dinner, Friday, that steak house out in Vale? It'll be my treat."

"You're bold, I'll give you that," Weiss said, not even bothering to look up from her food. "And persistent. This is what, the tenth time you've asked me?"

Neptune laid his elbow on the table and leaned on it, so that he was facing Weiss and blocking out everyone else. "Well hey, you're worth all the effort. If you'd just go with me, I'm sure you'd see that I'm not half bad myself."

"No," was the simple reply.

"Oh c'mon, you've been avoiding me for almost two years now. Just give me a shot, it'll be-"

A hand grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and spun him around, and he was face-to-face with a very irate Ruby. "She. Said. No. Now leave," the brunette growled.

He gulped and recoiled slowly. Not many people got the privilege, if it could be called that, of being subjected to Ruby Rose's anger. She didn't get mad often, or for no reason. If Ruby was heated, something was seriously wrong.

"Uh... yeah. Okay," Neptune said. "I'll be leaving then." Still, you couldn't keep the man down, and he managed to wink at Yang before he got up. "Enjoy the rest of your evening ladies. You know where to find me."

He walked away, making an obvious effort to put as much swagger into each step as possible. Ruby glared at him the whole way. Once she was satisfied he wasn't coming back, she turned back around, only to find Yang and Blake staring at her.

"What?"

Yang simply raised her eyebrow in response, and Blake folded her arms across her chest. Ruby glanced over at Weiss, who was apparently busy trying to separate her mashed potatoes into their base components through careful trial and error.

"That was... unexpected," Blake stated bluntly.

"Yeah," Yang continued, "I've never seen you blow up on someone like that out of nowhere. What, is it cuz' he hit on Weiss?"

The older girl blushed, but continued staring at her tray. Ruby simply looked at Yang dispassionately, determined to keep up the facade as long as Weiss wanted to. "No. I guess he just finally got to me. People need their space, y'know, and he just has absolutely no respect for any of that. He does it to everyone, and it really bugs me."

Yang shrugged, shoveling a forkful of chicken into her mouth. "If you say so," she mumbled. She wasn't fooled for a second. And deep inside, she felt her anger build. _No one_ played Yang Xiao Long for a fool. And especially not when it concerned her baby sister.

* * *

Weiss slashed her pen across an answer, scoring an angry red mark through it. "Wrong."

Another swipe, another mark. "Wrong."

Yet another one. "Wrong again. Honestly Ruby? Did you forget everything I taught you about burn dust?"

"No! But come on, this is the super advanced stuff you're trying to teach me! No one else knows this crap."

Weiss smacked her palm down on the desk, the sharp slap painfully loud in the relative quiet of their room. Ruby was sitting cross-legged on her bed, as Weiss graded the answers to the test she had given her partner.

"It is _not_ crap, Ruby Rose! Dust is the entire reason my family exists, the only reason that humanity isn't extinct! Say that one more time, and so help me..."

Ruby crossed her arms across her chest and met Weiss' glare with a look of disinterest. "You'll what?"

"I... I'll..." Weiss floundered, jabbing her pen in the air.

Ruby grinned triumphantly. "You'll... Fight me? We both know who would win that little duel."

"Why you little-"

"Or is it just a crazy coincidence that we haven't sparred in the last three months? Scared to lose?"

Weiss snarled and leapt at Ruby, only to be twisted around and pinned to the bed by her wrists.

"Gotcha," the brunette whispered.

The heiress' cheeks reddened as she realized how vulnerable she was at the moment. Helpless, at the mercy of her girlfriend.

"G-get off me you dolt..."

Ruby's hair hung down in a curtain of brown and red, preventing Weiss from seeing anything but her partner's face. "Oh I don't think so. Not until you admit that you lost. In only one move too."

Weiss struggled to kick her legs free, but Ruby effectively trapped them with her own, straddling her partner and looming over her.

"I didn't lose! This would be different if we had our weapons!"

Ruby grinned wickedly. "I'll take you up on that later. But for now, you'll either admit defeat, or else."

"O-or else what?" Weiss managed to say. Ruby could feel the heiress' erratic pulse from her wrists, and it looked she was having trouble breathing.

The brunette lowered her mouth to her partner's ear. "Or else I'm just gonna keep kissing you until you give up." With that, she lowered her mouth to Weiss' neck and began kissing her way down it, running her tongue over the older girl's collarbone and suckling on her skin.

"S-stop it! I mean it!" The brunette hesitated. "Ruby, n-no!"

At the word "**no**," Ruby recoiled, stumbling backwards and catching herself on the other bed. Weiss pulled herself up, her breathing ragged.

They both were silent for a few moments, until Ruby spoke. "...I'm sorry... I'm so sorry Weiss, I'm not any better than him am I? I didn't mean to-"

"Shut up."

Ruby cringed noticeably. "But-"

"Just hush. Please." Weiss stood up and walked over to her distraught partner, who was sitting on her bed. She sat down beside her, noticing how Ruby reflexively shied away from her. The heiress reached out her hand and placed it on top of Ruby's.

"Just ssshh, okay?" Weiss asked quietly.

Ruby nodded, and after a few moments, leaned to the side and rested her head on the heiress' shoulder. Weiss didn't make any move to pull away, and there was a visible flash of relief on Ruby's face.

"I've been your partner for almost three years," Weiss started quietly. "I can tell when something's bothering you. I'm not saying I didn't... enjoy that, but I'm not really ready for something like that. Just yet, at least. Give me some time."

"No it's fine," Ruby replied. "I'm sorry for trying to rush you into this... whole relationship thing, I guess. It won't happen again."

"I'm not saying don't try to do new things with me, just..." Weiss trailed off. She wrapped her other arm around Ruby's shoulder, pulling them both down onto the bed in a close embrace. The brunette sighed as she rested her head in the crook of the older girl's neck.

"Ruby, honestly, is something wrong? I mean, one second you're nervously asking if you can kiss me, then the next you're all over me. That isn't really like you. And you blew up on Neptune too, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen you that angry."

Ruby closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around Weiss' waist and pulling her closer. "Nothing's really wrong... I just, I mean when he hit on you like that... it was different than before. If I had had Crescent Rose on me, he probably would have left with a broken nose."

Understanding dawned on Weiss. "Ruby..." she said slyly. "Are you_ jealous_?"

She could feel Ruby tense up beneath her. "What, no! I don't get jealous..."

"You've never been able to lie to me, what makes you think it's going to start working now?"

"...Alright," Ruby sighed," yeah. A bit."

A sharp flick to the forehead. "Ow, okay! A lot, geez!"

Weiss chuckled. "I knew it."

"Yeah... It's just, I mean I've liked you for a really long time now, but I could never really say anything when he hit on you. It's not my place to decide who you want to be with."

"You," Weiss whispered softly.

Ruby blushed and kissed the heiress' neck, and this time met no resistance at all. "Thanks. You have _no_ idea what it means to me to hear you say that. Like, you know, actually say it out loud."

Ruby was silent for a few moments, but then took a deep breath, as if hesitant to continue speaking. "I guess, since I've liked you for so long without being able to actually do anything about it, now that I finally can... I guess I just got a little out of control."

A thought occurred to the heiress. She looked thoughtful, her brow furrowed in contemplation. "Ruby, exactly how long have you liked me... you know, like this?"

Ruby buried her face in Weiss' neck, and her words tickled the heiress as her lips moved. "About a year."

The white-haired girl smiled gently and sat up, pulling Ruby's head into her lap. She began running her fingers through Ruby's hair, noting how soft it was, despite it's sometimes shaggy appearance. "You dolt... that long? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well I didn't know if you liked girls, for one," Ruby said softly. "And even if you did, I thought that there was no way you would ever like me... romantically, I guess. I knew we were friends, best friends, and I didn't want to ruin that. I've always thought you were beautiful, and smart, and really super cool, and nice too, even though you had your own way of showing it."

Ruby turned her head so that she could look up at Weiss, who was staring out of the window into the night sky. She was entranced by the heiress' beauty, the way her lips formed into a tight line as she thought, the way her eyebrows flattened when she smiled gently. The way her eyes, deeper and more fathomless than any ocean, reflected the warm light of the lamp on the desk. The way her snow-white bangs framed her face, which was, in Ruby's opinion, the embodiment of perfection.

The moment, the feeling, the sensation of simply being together, finally. It was all just, _perfect_. Simply perfect.

Ruby hummed in satisfaction and found Weiss' free hand with her own. She intertwined their fingers, her heart beating faster as Weiss' pale, soft fingers reflexively tightened around her own.

Weiss' smile grew.

* * *

"Yang, come to bed."

"I can't sleep," Yang countered. She was pacing in circles around her room, her arms clasped behind her back.

"She'll be fine. Weiss could never hurt her."

"You don't know that, no one really knows that. Ruby has no idea what she's getting herself into." Yang snarled. "She might mean well, but she can't even control her own life. How am I supposed to trust her with Ruby's too?"

"Yang, Ruby knows better than anyone what she's getting herself into, _if _she really is secretly dating Weiss in some grand conspiracy against you."

"I just want what's best for my sister!" Yang began talking with her hands, weaving them through the air as she spoke. "Is that so wrong? Even if Weiss _doesn't_ get bored of her and break her heart, that's what's gonna happen one way or another. That bitch has to take over Schnee Dust, and there's no way I want Ruby anywhere near that company. You know better than anyone what they've done!"

Blake sat up from her position on her bed, her amber eyes tracking her partner and girlfriend as she paced the room. "Yang. Listen to yourself. 'That bitch?' I know you want the best for Ruby, I really do, but you're not doing this just for Ruby's sake. Be honest. You still don't like Weiss, and that's okay. But don't let it come between your sister and what she truly wants. If she honestly wants to be with Weiss, and Weiss wants to be with her, things will work out."

"But what if they don't!" Yang almost shouted. "What if they don't, and she just dumps Ruby like a piece of trash?! Because that's what she does to people, I've seen it before. I _don't trust her_. Plain and simple. And if I don't trust **her**, why in the hell would I trust her with my sister?"

Blake sighed. "I honestly think you're overreacting. She's your sister, yes, but she's eighteen now, and one of the best students in the school. She needs to start living her own life, as much as you want to be a part of it."

She reached out and caught Yang's hand as the blonde passed, halting her pacing and forcing her to meet her gaze.

"Just because Ruby has a life of her own doesn't mean that you can't be in it. She's already grown up Yang. You just haven't realized it yet."

Yang was silent for a few moments. But then she squeezed Blake's hand, and lowered her head in defeat. "You're right. I know, you're always right."

Blake smirked.

"I just... really don't trust her." Yang sat down beside Blake, resting her head on the faunus' shoulder. "But if this is what Ruby really wants, I'll just have to let them figure this out on her own. I just wish they'd tell me."

"They will," Blake said. "Just give them time. It's probably a scary thing for both of them."

"Yeah... I swear though, if she does anything to hurt Ruby, I'm gonna-"

"Yes, I know," Blake laughed. She wrapped her arm around Yang's shoulder and pulled her closer. "You'll break every bone in her body. You've said it before."

"Damn right," Yang muttered. "She'll be _Schnee dust_ when I'm done with her."

"Get out. Now."

* * *

"Weiss..."

The heiress froze in mid-step.

Ruby turned over in her sleep, unconsciously pulling the red sheets tighter around her lithe frame. Shrouded in darkness, it was difficult to tell if she was asleep or not.

Weiss waited for a few moments more in the dead silence of the room. She was in the middle of it, halfway between her bed and Ruby's. After almost a full minute, she started moving again, taking short, hesitant steps towards her partner.

"Weiss..."

This time the heiress jumped a little. A look of indignation reached her face. Just what could Ruby be dreaming about, moaning her name like that? She started forward, intent on waking her partner up.

"Weiss... please don't go..."

She froze, her mind not quite sure of what it had just heard.

"Please... where did you go?"

Ruby's voice sounded so tender, so needy that the white-haired girl felt her chest tighten in sympathetic pain.

"Please come back..."

Casting her prior nervousness aside, she took the last few steps to Ruby's bedside. She couldn't stand to listen to her partner so distraught, knowing that there was something she could do about it.

The younger girl whimpered and turned over again, facing the center of the room. She felt something tug at her heartstrings as she saw Rubys' face. It was scrunched up tight, as if in pain or distress, her lips curled down into a frown. She quickly decided it wasn't a good look for the normally effervescent girl.

She grasped Ruby by the shoulder and shook her gently. No reaction.

"Weiss..."

The older girl sputtered and shook her partner harder, and this time Ruby's eyes snapped open, orbs of silver searching the darkness.

"Weiss?"

The heiress put a finger over Ruby's lips. "Hey, sshhh, I'm right here. It's okay."

Ruby stared back at her, her eyes shimmering with a mixture of relief and happiness. She nodded her head in reply.

"Are you alright now?" Weiss asked. She lowered her finger, finding one of Ruby's hands and grasping it with her own.

"Heh, yeah, I'm fine now," Ruby whispered in reply. She smiled brightly, visible even in the darkness. "Thanks."

"It's nothing." The heiress backed away slightly, but kept her hand in Ruby's. The nervousness returned, and even though the question was on the tip of her tongue, she couldn't quite bring herself to say it. At the same time, she didn't want to return to her bed by herself either.

Ruby gazed into her downcast eyes, and perhaps she saw the unspoken question in them.

"Would you..." Ruby began hesitantly. Weiss looked up. "...Would you like to sleep here, tonight? W-with me?"

She nodded quickly. A broad grin stretched across Ruby's face, and the heiress couldn't help but imitate her with a smile of her own.

Ruby lifted the crimson sheets to make room, and her partner crawled in beside her. Her nightgown rustled as it slid along the soft sheets.

They embraced each-other hesitantly at first, both unsure of exactly what to do. Before long though, Weiss decided it would be best if she turned over, so that Ruby could hold her from behind while their bodies fit together. She struggled to remember what that was called. Spooning?

Regardless of what it was, it felt _right_ to her.

Ruby put her lips to her the bare part of her back that was exposed by the low back of the nightgown, and left the softest of kisses there. She shuddered, unable to control her racing emotions and the feelings that came with them. She never thought she would experience this, this sensation of being loved, cared for, protected. She loved it. Maybe she loved Ruby, she realized with a start. Ruby made her feel beautiful, and safe, and _wanted_. No one had ever come close to doing that. She wasn't sure, and didn't want to jump to conclusions, but she sure hadn't felt this particular feeling before. This tightness of the chest, this feeling of incredible warmth and longing. The way her lungs struggled for air, the way that every touch felt electric. The way Ruby's voice set her spine tingling, the way that she _needed_ to be held by her.

"Were you already coming to my bed?" Ruby whispered.

"N-no..."

"You've never been able to lie to me," Ruby repeated in her best Weiss impression.

The older girl stifled a giggle. "Fine... dolt. _Yes_, I was already going to ask if I could sleep with you."

"Why?"

Weiss' brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"I mean, you normally don't come to me first unless there's something on your mind."

The heiress resolved to fix that habit, to start being the one that initiated things. She was trying to be more open, she really was. She was worried that Ruby would leave her if she didn't. Call it irrational, but the anxiety that came with it was real.

Ruby kissed the back of her neck, Weiss' eyelids fluttering closed as she did so.

"Remember when I told you you can tell me anything? Hasn't changed. I'm still here. In fact, I'm closer than ever."

Weiss' heart swelled with a pride, amazed that her girlfriend and partner had turned out to be so amazing and caring. Not for the first time, she was incredibly grateful that she had come back for Ruby in the Emerald Forest during their first semester at Beacon.

"... I'm worried about my father."

"Oh."

"You don't know what he would do if he found out what we were doing. I'm not asking you to keep this a secret because I'm embarrassed of you or something. I just can't risk it. For your sake as well as mine. At the very least, he'd make sure that we... that we never saw each-other again."

The thought made her chest constrict in fear, and her voice wavered. But then Ruby was there, rubbing soft circles onto her side and tenderly kissing the back of her neck. It gave her the courage to continue, to fully give voice her fears.

"I don't know what's going to happen to us Ruby, and it scares me. Most people have a lot of different possible futures, paths they might walk and choices they might make." She shuddered. "I don't. There's only one future for me, the one where I go back to Atlas and get forced into an arranged marriage for _the betterment of the company_." She said those last few words with disgust.

Ruby was silent, but offered her support through other, physical means.

"I don't want that. I want options. I want possibilities. I want to _choose_."

She lowered her head to the sheets, her snow-white hair a sharp contrast to the deep crimson. Her next words were low and laden with yearning.

"I want a future with you in it..."

A silence fell, one that was neither comfortable nor the opposite. Ruby never stopped comforting her, and Weiss felt herself drift off into the bliss of her girlfriend's caring touch.

"You've got to do this for yourself Weiss." Ruby's voice was determined.

"...What do you mean?"

"If you really want a future with me, and don't get me wrong, I want that too, more than you know. But if that's really what you want, you're going to have to make that future for yourself. Nobody can truly force you into anything. Your parents might be some of the most powerful people in Remnant, but no one is unstoppable. You're an incredibly powerful huntress now, and the most beautiful, smartest, most clever woman I know. And you have an entire team of huntresses by your side, ones that would do anything for you."

Weiss was silent, soaking up every word that Ruby uttered. Sometimes she forgot how mature Ruby had become.

"But still, you're the only one who can do this. I can't go to your parents, as much as I want to, and yell at them and make them leave you alone forever. But you can. _You can_. Trust me."

Her partner's words struck a chord in Weiss' heart, and she realized, at that moment that she truly did want Ruby in her future, no matter what else happened. A future without Ruby was one she didn't want to be a part of.

"I just... I'm still scared of facing them. I don't know what they'll do."

Ruby kissed her again, this time tilting her head up so that their lips could meet softly, sweetly.

"Hey." Ruby stared into her girlfriend's eyes, struggling to commit everything that she saw in them to memory. "You don't have to worry about that now. Tonight, it's just you and me. The way it should be. Forget about them, forget about all of that. I'm here. With you."

Weiss couldn't keep a warm smile off of her face, the one that she reserved solely for Ruby. She whispered, their faces separated by inches. "Thanks, dolt."

Ruby smiled and tightened her grip around the heiress' waist, holding onto her like she was the most precious thing in the world. Which, to Ruby, she truly was.

"You know... you don't have to ask," Ruby muttered. The clouds parted, allowing shafts of moonlight to stream through the window and pool on the floor.

"Hmm?"

"If you... if you want to sleep together, you don't have to ask. You can just come over here. Or uh, if you don't, I'll probably just come to you."

Weiss smiled. "...I think I'd like that."

* * *

_**Dämmerung - dawn in German.**_

_**I hope you all enjoyed that.**_

_**As for the whole "Ruby controlling wind with her semblance" thing, it's already canon, technically. In the food fight episode, you'll recall where she spins into a blur and smashes everyone against the wall with her sheer speed. Funny thing is, an object of her size doesn't have the mass it needs to create a shockwave effect like that. The only way the wind would have swirled around her like that, picking up tables and cracking the wall, would be if she somehow had the ability to control wind, either subconsciously or not. Bam, canon.**_

_**Sorry this chapter is a little late. Had a busy week at work, and it was honestly a little hard figuring out where to go with this story after the last chapter. I've got a good idea now though, no worries. Some more bad news though. My work will, once again, prevent me from posting for a while. At the most, give it about fifteen days for a new chapter. On the bright side though, I will be able to write during this time, so as soon as I get back there should be a new chapter. Who knows, there might even be two. **_

_**Please review, let me know what you thought, and enjoy your day.**_


	6. Chapter 5 - Corona

_**If I could give you one thing in life, I would give you the ability to see yourself through my eyes. **_

_**Only then would you finally realize how special you are to me.**_

* * *

"First contestant... Ruby Rose!"

Hushed whispers echoed around the coliseum. Students in the rising tiers of seats shot eachother pointed glances and winced in anticipation. Nobody wanted to have to fight Ruby anymore. These days, no one really stood a chance. Not even Pyrrha could beat her, as the brunette had proven during last week's upset match.

There were many ways the weekly sparring match-ups were determined, be it randomly, through a ranking system, a tournament system, or simply by students asking eachother for duels. Sometimes the fights were between entire teams, and sometimes they were simply between two students.

This week, the matchups were blind pick duels. A slot-machine type system randomly selected two students, and they fought until one of the fighter's aura was depleted. That way, no lasting injuries were sustained that might hinder their future careers.

Aura worked like a shield, someone with sufficient control over their own could create a metaphysical barrier that absorbed and deflected incoming energy, be it physical or otherwise. For instance, if you still had a bit of aura left, hundreds of glass shards would not be able to cut you; your barrier would absorb all the kinetic energy and reflect the shards. And if the glass was able to cut you, then that meant that your aura was depleted, and the match over.

Standing and cracking her neck, Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose and made her way towards the stairs that led into the arena.

The second slot was slowing, and the students that could see their own portraits slowly scrolling by cringed.

Finally, it landed on one. There was a shocked silence in the room.

"For the fourth match of the day," Glynda Goodwitch's clear voice echoed through the room, "Ruby Rose... versus Yang Xiao Long."

Ruby glanced up in surprise, checking to make sure that the system was indeed showing her sister as her opponent. Seeing that the results were in fact correct, a small grin found it's way to her face. She was one of Beacon's best fighters at this point, that was a given. But she had never beaten Yang before. Her older sister knew everything about her, knew her fighting style and every subtle nuance she would display before swinging Crescent Rose. With a weapon as heavy as her scythe, broadcasting your movements was inevitable, no matter how hard you tried to conceal them.

Yang was the only one who might be able to beat her. The blonde herself was currently on a six-match winning streak. But this was her chance, her opportunity to finally prove to her sister that she had grown up. That she was a woman now, capable of making her own decisions and finding her own path in life.

Yang vaulted over the railing, choosing to eschew the use of stairs in her typical showy fashion.

She landed on the balls of her feet, jumping up and down like a boxer and slamming her fists together.

Ruby made slow, deliberate movements as she stared at Yang and unslung Crescent Rose from her back. She held it like a rifle; she hadn't yet deployed it into scythe form. Her stance was steady, her feet shoulder-width apart. The barrel of Crescent Rose was raised halfway in a ready position.

"You know, when I woke up today," Yang said with a smirk, "beating up my little sister wasn't on the agenda."

Ruby smiled back, warm and honest. "You might wanna check it again. It still isn't."

Mocking jeers echoed from above as the students caught Ruby's comeback.

Yang laughed, a rich sound. "You know, I was gonna go easy on you."

"I wasn't."

Yang smirked. "So that's how it's gonna be? Fine then." She stood up straight and thrust a fist into the air. "This is it! A no-holds-barred, full-throttle, no-punches-held match between Yang Xiao Long and her sister, Ruby Rose! This is for the title, ladies and gents. May the best sister win!"

Ruby held her stance. She was ready, she told herself. The last time she fought Yang, she had suffered a crushing defeat. That had been a year ago, however. Things were different now. _She_ was different now. The past week had changed her in ways she hadn't known were possible. She had trained harder than ever before, pushed herself to speeds previously unthinkable, swung her massive scythe with more force that she realized she had in her body.

She was pushing herself harder than she ever had before, out of a newfound urge to better herself. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to be able to protect the things she cared about.

Glancing into the seats above, her gaze locked with eyes of ice blue. The owner of those cerulean orbs gave a nod of encouragement and a small smile.

She wanted to be able to protect Weiss. From her parents, from the Grimm, from anyone who would try to separate them. Now that she had the girl of her dreams, she wasn't letting go.

She grinned. She was ready.

Ms. Goodwitch looked at them both in turn. "Are you ready?"

Twin nods were her reply.

"Right then. Begin!"

Yang immediately blasted into action, holding her fists behind her and firing Ember Celica. She flew towards Ruby, who snapped Crescent Rose up and fired. She only had time for a single shot before the blonde was upon her, armored fists raining down blow after blow.

Ruby used her speed to dodge as much as she was able, covering the gaps in her defense with the flat barrel of her sniper rifle. As she did so, she lamented creating Crescent Rose with a bolt-action system. She didn't have the time she needed to fire multiple rounds, not with Yang pressing her so furiously. Or did she?

The blonde grinned wickedly, mixing kicks in with her bone-shattering punches. Ruby let her sister press the advantage, backing up steadily and bringing Yang in closer and closer. The blonde saw an opening, and drew her arm back for a devastating left hook.

Ruby whipped her head backwards, narrowly dodging the blow and transferring her momentum into a backflip. As her feet came up, they connected with Yang's chin with enough force to knock the blonde off of her feet.

Ruby landed firmly and ejected a spent shell casing. She allowed herself a small feeling of satisfaction. Her sister had _definitely_ not seen that coming.

Glancing up, she saw that the meter that tracked Yang's aura had dropped slightly. Nothing huge, but enough to give her opponent something to think about. She grinned.

Yang was still on the ground, and Ruby realized that she was laughing. As she watched, the older girl spun her legs around like a top, using the force to jump back onto her feet in a spinning kip up.

Cheers of appreciation sounded from above, and Yang performed a mock bow. "So, you've got a few new moves huh?"

"You could say that," Ruby replied. "I've gotten a lot stronger since we last fought."

As Ruby spoke, she observed the way that small tendrils of steam began to rise from Yang's body. That was her semblance: she got more damage she took, the more powerful she got. The blonde was at her deadliest when she was about to go down, like an animal backed into a corner. Many a foe had assumed they had beaten the brawler in the past, only to have a knockout punch connect with their jaw scant seconds later.

Ruby knew she had to end this quickly, in one strike preferably. The kick had just been to throw Yang off of her groove. She knew Yang relied on her anger in battle, and often-times she made rash or reckless decisions, especially if she felt she was being toyed or played with.

Ruby grinned. She knew just how to do that.

"What's the matter sis? Scared to use your scythe?"

In a flash, Ruby raised her rifle and loosed a barrage of shots, using her semblance to rack the bolt multiple times in a single second.

Yang dove out of the way, barely avoiding the rain of steel. She roared in fury and charged, aiming a brutal superman punch right at Ruby's head.

Ruby disappeared in a flurry of rose petals an instant before the blow landed, appearing on the other side of the arena and firing yet even more shots at Yang.

The blonde howled in rage, and Ruby smirked. She had her older sister on a leash now.

The battle continued like that for nearly a full minute: Yang dashing around the arena, only to find empty space and rose petals when she finally managed to close with Ruby. The brunette knew her sister wasn't in her right mind at this point; her eyes were blazing red and steam wafted off of her in waves. She was so angry that she wasn't even thinking of using Ember Celica's explosive shots to put Ruby on the back foot, and that was precisely what she wanted.

It was nearly time now. Both parties were breathing raggedly. Time to end this.

Ruby appeared in the middle of the arena, raised Crescent Rose, and lined up the perfect shot.

Yang whirled around and locked eyes with her. She exploded in rage, flames swirling around her in a fiery tornado. Cocking her fist back, she flew towards Ruby with all the speed she could muster.

Ruby fired, and the round spun through the air on a collision course with Yang's face.

Yang raised her other gauntlet, and the round spanged harmlessly off of it. But in doing so, she had blocked her own vision for a split second. Which was precisely what Ruby wanted.

Yang lowered the gauntlet, just in time to see Crescent Rose's fully extended scythe blade slam into her chest with the force of a truck.

She had still been flying towards Ruby at full speed and the blow knocked her off of her feet, but her momentum sent her sailing past her sister. She impacted the wall of the arena with a sickening crunch.

Stunned silence filled the room.

But as Ruby glanced up, she saw that Yang's aura bar was still flashing. Deep in the red, but there nonetheless. She knew she had mere seconds to end this, before Yang destroyed the entire amphitheater in sheer fury.

She vanished in a flash of rose petals, appearing directly beside Yang with her scythe held high in the air, blade pointed down. A killing - or in this case match-ending, - blow.

Yang, who was on all fours, looked up at her sister. Her eyes were lilac purple. Ruby knew what she was doing. She was hoping to elicit feelings of regret, to cause Ruby to hesitate. The brunette had always had a soft spot for her big sister, and Yang was trying to exploit that. Her purple eyes were pleading. This trick had always worked on Ruby, when they would spar as kids.

Ruby wasn't sixteen anymore. Without a second of hesitation, she brought the scythe down. The blade sped through the air, smashing through her sister's aura.

Exhibiting an amazing display of strength and dexterity, Ruby halted the blade scant centimeters from Yang's neck, the tip of the blade quivering.

Sharp gasps echoed through the amphitheater. Ruby pulled the blade up and folded Crescent Rose back into its rifle form, slinging it on her back.

Yang looked up at her in shock.

Ruby exhaled. "Like I said, I've gotten a lot stronger since we last fought." She reached her hand out towards Yang, and her sister instinctively took it, letting Ruby haul her to her feet.

She was panting, and started breathing slowly to get her breath back. "Yeah I just... I didn't expect you to go that far. You really didn't hold anything back did you?"

Ruby grinned. "Nope."

"And the match goes to Ms. Rose," Glynda announced. "Congratulations on a well-earned victory."

Ruby's picture on the viewing screen flashed green, while her sister's flashed red. Applause exploded throughout the room. The sheer amount of skill Ruby displayed had taken everyone by shock.

The brunette took a moment to bask in the praise, her eyes seeking out a particular set of clapping hands amongst the multitude. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, Weiss was the only one not clapping. Instead though, she wore a bright smile, one filled with pride and satisfaction.

Ruby couldn't help but smile in response.

"But we still have time for one more match," Glynda said. She had to raise her voice to be heard over the applause. She beckoned towards the stairs. "Girls, if you would please take your seats."

Yang and Ruby nodded and strode towards the stairs, climbing them and taking their seats with a sort of measured calmness. Both had fought hard, and they knew it. There was a certain amount of pride to be had in that knowledge.

Once all the attention was off of her and onto speculations of the next matchup, Ruby bounced over to her partner. Weiss was sitting calmly on the upper bench, legs crossed and hands on her lap.

"Weiss! Did you see that?"

"Of course you dolt," the heiress said. "We're in an amphitheater, how could I have missed it?"

"Yeah but I mean, did you see all the cool stuff I did? I beat Yang!"

Weiss couldn't help herself, and her lips quirked up in a small smile. "Yes, I saw. Congratulations. It was a long time coming honestly. " She paused. Then, "You did really well out there."

Ruby giggled and sprang forwards, wrapping her arms around her secret girlfriend in a tight hug.

"R-Ruby! Not here," Weiss whispered harshly.

The brunette jumped back, folding her hands across her lap and returning to a sitting position. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it when you compliment me! It gives me this crazy little happy feeling that I don't know what to do with!"

Weiss blushed lightly, keeping her eyes trained ahead of her. She had to maintain her image as the Ice Queen, after all.

"I'll give you kiss later, all right? Just focus on the next match."

Ruby huffed in frustration, but the wide grin on her face belied her actions.

"First contestant... Weiss Schnee."

The heiress stood up quickly, smoothing her skirt and straightening her ponytail.

Ruby gazed up at her in adoration. She loved it when Weiss looked this determined. There was no doubt in her mind as to who would win the next match, regardless of the opponent. "Good luck Weiss!"

"Luck is for fools Ruby," she stated. "But thank you."

The second slot reel spun slower and slower. Faces were becoming recognizable.

Ruby watched, entranced, as Weiss closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. This was her pre-battle ritual, something she did to calm her mind and focus all of her razor-sharp intellect on a single objective. The brunette felt her pulse quicken. She truly must be the luckiest person on the planet, she thought, to be the partner, friend, and girlfriend of this perfect angel in front of her.

Around the room there were sharp intakes of breath and whistles of expectation. Ruby glanced around in surprise, wondering what was causing the excitement.

"For the fifth and final match of the day, Weiss Schnee... versus Ruby Rose."

* * *

Sighing internally, she glanced down at Ruby. The younger girl looked absolutely crestfallen. She shot her a smile in an attempt to cheer her up, but she knew it didnt't reach her eyes.

All eyes were now on the two of them, but Weiss didn't care. "Ruby, are you okay to fight? After Yang?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." She laughed nervously. "Let's just get this over with."

Weiss nodded. As she and Ruby strode towards the stairs, she couldn't help but feel a nervous sensation in the pit of her stomach. Deep down, she knew Ruby would never consciously hurt her, but after the absolute lack of hesitation she had shown while dealing with Yang, the rational part of her brain wasn't so sure.

And even with that aside, Ruby was an incredibly strong fighter with an innate grasp of tactics. She could take devastating blows and keep fighting; she had a determination to win that was nearly unmatched in the school. But that wasn't what made her dangerous. No, what made her so deadly was her ability to adapt. She never fought the same way twice anymore. While she was fighting, she analyzed her opponents strategy and either countered it or used it against them.

Ruby hadn't been wrong when she had teased Weiss about the fact that they hadn't sparred in months. Weiss knew that she was still holding on to her own stubborn pride.

If they didn't fight, she couldn't lose. And as much as she wanted to see Ruby succeed, she didn't want to see her younger partner surpass her in skill and ability. Call it selfish, call it vain. She wasn't perfect, she reminded herself.

And with that new perspective, she re-evaluated the potential outcomes of the fight. If the likely outcome happened, and she lost, she would finally be able to let go of that same stubborn pride that had prevented her from sparring with Ruby. And If she was being honest with herself, she missed those sessions. She missed watching Ruby in action, pitting her skill against her partners. She missed the smooth rhythm they often fell into: attack, counterattack, parry, attack.

She smiled as she reached the floor of the amphitheater. She _wanted_ Ruby to win now. Ruby's victory would destroy one of the last barriers that still stood between them. And she wanted to be as close to her girlfriend as possible.

"_I still can't get used to that word. Girlfriend. Girl friend. It's been an entire week and yet still... Ruby Rose is my... my girlfriend," _she thought to herself.

The thought made her happy, even though she was about to fight the exact same person that was the cause of that happiness.

Gazing across the arena, she watched Ruby unlimber Crescent Rose and extend it into a massive scythe. The sheer strength in Ruby's body never ceased to impress her, even after almost three years of being her partner.

She unhooked Myrtenaster from its belt-loop and held it out in front of her.

She noticed that Ruby still looked hesitant. "Don't hold back," she called.

"...Okay. You too," the brunette answered. But still, the nervous look in her eyes remained. She held Crescent Rose behind her, the haft pointing towards the heiress and the blade angled toward the ceiling.

Goodwitch cleared her throat. "Very well, are you both ready?"

"Yes," Weiss announced. Ruby only nodded.

"Begin!"

Nothing happened. Neither party made a move. An expectant silence permeated the air.

They stared eachother down, ice blue clashing with steel grey.

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted Ruby to come out the victor. But yet, she was still Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. And she did not go down without a fight.

Stepping to the left, she began circling her opponent. The brunette mirrored her actions, stepping to the right, never breaking the heiress' gaze.

She deliberated as she walked. The only way to beat Ruby, she realized, would be to negate her incredible speed. Luckily she had not one, but two tools suited for the job. Her glyphs, which could immobilize and trap Ruby, and ice dust, which did the same. One was her semblance, and the other could be fired out of her hybrid rapier/revolver.

While she was thinking her plan through, her razor-sharp senses were watching Ruby for any sign of irregular movement, any change in the baseline she had already formed while watching Ruby pace.

It only took a few seconds.

There. Ruby's left foot, her lead foot, shifted ever so slightly.

***WHOOSH***

A rushing sound filled the air as Ruby's scythe sliced through the air where Weiss had just stood. The crowd was astonished; the brunette had closed the gap between her opponent in the blink of an eye. Even more astonishing however, was the fact that Weiss had flipped over the attack, spinning in mid-air to present her rapier.

A loud crack resounded as a blazing bolt of burn dust flashed towards Ruby, who dove and rolled out of the way. A blackened circle smoldered where she had just stood.

Weiss landed gracefully, spinning around and holding her rapier at the ready. Ruby turned too, facing the heiress again. The two resumed their pacing, steadily circling eachother, looking for any opening or sign of weakness.

This time Weiss was the one to rush forward, in an attempt to catch Ruby off guard. The brunette stood her ground, blocking the heiress' first stab and twirling her scythe around to deliver a blow of her own. The next few seconds were a deadly blur of action, Weiss stabbing, thrusting, turning Ruby's scythe blade away at the last second. Ruby spun and twisted, using her body to evade Weiss' slashes and her scythe to block her stabs. Weiss knew her partner had her beat in terms of sheer strength, so instead of attempting to block Ruby's powerful strokes, she used her rapier to turn them aside with the minimal amount of force required.

Multiple blows were being exchanged in a single second; the battle appeared as a flashing blur to the audience. Sparks flew as steel met steel.

A gentle smile found it's way to her face as she slipped back into the easy rhythm she had missed so much. There was a certain connection that formed between two people while they were fighting, something that could only be found in the heat of battle. While her body reflexively blocked Ruby's blows and delivered strikes of her own, she found herself admiring her partner.

Ruby really was beautiful when she fought. The way she became one with her scythe and manipulated it like it was second nature, she made it seem more like dancing than fighting. She had grace as well as power, blending brutal force with incredible speed and pinpoint accuracy. Weiss easily understood now, how Ruby was one of the best, if not _the_ best fighter at Beacon.

They clashed together in a particularly heavy strike, and Ruby pressed forward, trying to overpower the heiress and break through her guard.

Weiss knew that would spell doom for her, so she flipped backwards, landing on her hands and then her feet.

Ruby rested her scythe on her shoulders and grinned at the her opponent. "I'd almost forgotten how fun this was!"

Weiss laughed, heady from the adrenaline coursing through her system.

She took slow, deep breaths, attempting to slow her pounding heart. She could see Ruby breathing heavily as well. She knew it wasn't just the strenuous activity that was causing her heart to beat so fast. At that moment she realized something. Looking at her partner, who was standing strong and unbowed in the warm glow of the arena lights, her cloak somehow flowing in the nonexistent breeze, - had she learned how to control the wind already? - she realized that she was fully enamored with her. And as she considered it, she couldn't help but think that it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Weiss? You okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes I'm fine. I was distracted, sorry."

"I bet," Ruby said. There was a knowing smirk on her face. She lowered her voice so that her next words were between the two of them. "See something you like?"

She blushed furiously. "If I did, I would never say so in front of all these people."

"Well maybe you can tell me later then." Ruby readied her scythe. "Cuz I still have a match to win."

Weiss pointed Myrtenaster at Ruby, pulling the hilt back to her cheek. "Arrogance doesn't suit you Ruby."

"Arrogance isn't the same thing as confidence Weiss."

The heiress inclined her head in acknowledgement. "Hmm."

Her mind turned to thoughts of battle. Specifically, to a way to beat Ruby. She thought of her desired end-state, which was Ruby frozen in ice or immobilized by glyphs, and worked backwards from that point. A wicked grin appeared on her face as she finalized her plan.

Ruby narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Without warning Weiss shot forward, right hand thrusting with Myrtenaster extended while the right created a glyph below Ruby's feet. The brunette glanced down, and smiled.

Why was she smiling? Ruby dodged to the side, putting her precisely where Weiss wanted her. Then she looked up and swung her scythe.

Weiss frowned in puzzlement. She was still a dozen feet from the heiress, and wouldn't be able to bring her scythe back up in time to block, given the speed that Weiss was traveling.

Whatever the case, Ruby was right where she wanted her. That was what she was thinking, right until a massive blast of wind slammed into her and threw her all the way across the arena.

Cursing herself as she struggled to rise, she realized that she hadn't taken into account Ruby's newly discovered control over wind. What was surprising however, was how quickly the brunette had gone from blowing notes across a room to blowing a full-sized human being across an arena. She must have been working on it in secret. The thought filled the heiress with unrest. Ruby was supposed to tell her everything, as her partner if not her girlfriend. She resolved to question her about it later.

Right now, she was focusing on standing and catching her breath, which had been knocked out of her when she tumbled across the smooth stone floor.

She looked up, thinking that Ruby was probably already halfway across the arena on her way to follow up her wind strike.

Confusion marred her features. Ruby wasn't there. Where was she?

A crushing force slammed into her back, knocking her back to the ground and sending her skidding across the floor_. _Her aura softened the impact, but it couldn't lessen the pain she felt from smacking her head into the ground. Aura could deflect projectiles or blades; it couldn't move floors.

_Ruby was already behind her._ Dust, the girl was fast. _Too_ fast.

She got up as quickly as she could, desperately holding Myrtenaster in front of her to deflect any incoming blows. Too late, she realized that Ruby had put her on the back foot. And when Ruby had you on the back foot, you had already lost.

The brunette was already inside her guard, and the her free hand swung around and slapped the blade of her rapier to the side. As it happened, Weiss looked into her partner's eyes. Her expression was blank and they were empty; she had clinically detached herself from the fight. That was bad.

Ruby brought a knee up into her gut, forcing her breath out in a gasp, then spun around and slammed the pole end of Crescent Rose into the side of her head as she doubled over.

The blows were crushing, and would have broken bones if her aura wasn't absorbing the kinetic energy.

She stumbled to the side, but Ruby wasn't done. Weiss brought her eyes up in time to see her girlfriend's foot crash into her leg, buckling it as she fell down on one knee. None of the blows hurt physically, because of her aura, but they hurt in a different way. She knew that Ruby didn't mean any of what she was doing, but still... she was merciless.

As she knelt on her left knee, she had the presence of mind to glance up at the bars tracking each contestant's aura. Hers was nearly gone. Ruby's was still full.

She brought her eyes forward again. Ruby had her scythe pulled back, to strike the final blow that would undoubtedly end the match. It was all happening in slow motion. This was what she wanted, she remembered. For Ruby to win, for Ruby to break down that last barrier of pride that separated them. For Weiss to finally acknowledge that Ruby had surpassed her.

She realized now, why exactly she didn't want Ruby to beat her. If she did, it would mean that Ruby had outgrown her. That she didn't need Weiss' guidance anymore. She had always been a sort of mentor to Ruby, as well as her partner and her friend. She had held on to that position as long as possible, as a way to keep the brunette to herself. Ruby was going out to to with Yang? No, she was staying with Weiss and studying. Ruby was taking a trip with Penny to Vacuo over the summer? No, she had barely passed the last semester, and needed to stay with Weiss to improve her academics and combat skills.

It had been her way of holding on to Ruby, her way of making sure that the girl that she had grown so dependent on couldn't leave her. It was pathetic, really. But she couldn't bring herself to feel bad about it. After all, look what it had brought about in the end. Now, she had a relationship with Ruby that was far deeper and more intimate than just mentor and student. With a burst of joy, she realized that she didn't need to be Ruby's mentor anymore. It was true, the girl had outgrown her when it came to the battlefield. But everyone had their strong points. Now, they could fully be partners. Complementing and supporting eachother, acting as one unit capable of doing so much more than they could apart.

All these thoughts flashed through her mind as Ruby's scythe sped towards her. She closed her eyes. She was ready, she decided. Ready for Ruby to win. Ready for them to truly become partners.

She opened her eyes. The blow hadn't come. Ruby was still there, holding her scythe at the ready, but this time her eyes weren't dispassionate and uninterested. No, this time they were full of hesitation and fear.

It warmed her heart to think that Ruby would hesitate for her and not for Yang, but at the same time, she needed this to happen. "Ruby," she whispered. "Don't hold back."

Ruby nodded, making up her mind in a split second. Weiss' reassurance had apparently done wonders for her. She shot Weiss a sad smile and swung her scythe. The heiress closed her eyes.

At the last instant before Ruby's swing landed, Weiss felt her aura flare up, brighter than ever before. As if it wasn't just her own, as if something else was lending it strength.

Crescent Rose connected, forcing her eyes open as it slammed into her harder than any blow she could ever remember. Ruby's scythe had not only weight and strength behind it, but blinding speed as well.

She blacked out. The last thing she remembered was her field of view becoming horizontal as the walls of the arena sped past her.

* * *

Warm arms. Wrapped tight around her. Whose? She opened her eyes, then smiled. Ruby's.

Almost immediately, her heart softened at the sheer depth of care and concern in the brunette's eyes, as she mouthed words that Weiss was unable to make out. But then slowly, like water breaking through a dam, her hearing returned.

"-okay? Weiss? Weiss, are you okay?!"

As her hearing returned, so too did her hawkish perception of the world around her. She realized how the two of them must have looked: a little too intimate, even for partners.

She gently shrugged Ruby's arms off of her, and shakily stood. "Yes dolt, I'm fine." She smiled at her partner. "No thanks to you."

"I'm sorry! I didn't want to-"

"Oh hush. I told you not to hold back. It's completely fine; I'm glad you won anyway."

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well… that's the thing. I didn't exactly win… yet."

"Yet?" Weiss asked, perplexed.

The brunette gestured up at the aura meters on the screen. Ruby's was down to a third. Weiss' was full.

"Wha… what?" Weiss was stunned. That made absolutely no sense. Ruby's blow should have completely drained her aura, and yet there it was, green and completely filled.

Goodwitch's authoritative voice filled the room, as she stepped down onto the arena floor and made her way over to them. "The match is a draw! That concludes our matches for today. Now remember students, it is a Friday, so make sure to enjoy your weekend. However, do _not_ think that means you can slack off in the rest of the day's classes. You are dismissed."

She lowered her voice and turned to the two of them. "You two, are not dismissed. We have something to discuss in my office."

* * *

Glynda's office was kept at a near-frigid temperature. Not that the heiress minded.

She and Ruby sat in front of a large mahogany desk, which was covered in neatly organized stacks of papers and official-looking documents. The only personal touch was a small vase in the corner, which contained a single sprig of lavender. The rest of the room was nearly bare, the white walls unblemished by neither pictures nor furniture.

Apparently Ms. Goodwitch liked things simple and sterile.

Glancing to her left, Weiss noticed that her partner looked nervous. Her legs were crossed, and both her hands were in her lap. Weiss reached across the gap between them and took one of her hands, caressing the top of it with her thumb. It had a visible effect on Ruby, the brunette looking sidelong at her and smiling.

The door opened behind them, and Weiss quickly withdrew her hand. The sound of clicking high heels filled the room, shattering the silence as Glynda strode over to her desk and took a seat.

Weiss noticed that her hand felt cold; she was already missing Ruby's touch.

The blonde removed her glasses, then closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She let out a deep sigh before saying: "What, was that."

Weiss chose to answer first. "What was what?"

"You know what. That aura transfer you two pulled off in the arena. I don't know how you did it without any official training, let alone in those circumstances, but I know one when I see it."

"Aura… transfer?" Ruby questioned. Weiss was forced to admit she was equally clueless.

Glynda looked incredulous. "Wait… you mean to tell me that neither of you know what an aura transfer is?"

The two of them shook their heads.

"And yet you somehow managed one of in the middle of a fight, even though the fight was between the two of you?"

They glanced at each other, both unsure of what to say.

Goodwitch sighed heavily. "Very well. I believe you are telling the truth, and I can hardly blame you for breaking the rules of the arena unintentionally."

Weiss spoke up. "I don't remember aura transfer being against the rules. In fact, I don't remember it being in the rules in the first place, and I've gone over them extensively."

"That's because they're not in the written copies you students have access to. The reason being, is that not many people are aware of its existence in the first place. And even for those that are, few among them have formed the kind of bond needed to perform such a feat."

Both girls looked slightly confused, although Weiss was beginning to understand what the technique entailed.

Goodwitch folded her hands atop the desk. "It appears I owe you two an explanation. Let me start of by making it clear that you are to tell no one of what I say here. Aura transfer is a secret technique, but only because it is so dangerous. If you attempt an aura transfer without the appropriate pre-requisites, you will be killed."

Ruby blanched, and Weiss slid her hand into the brunette's again. Under the desk, of course.

"So obviously, you both know that people with sufficient control over their aura can manifest it as a shield, to deflect and absorb the force of incoming attacks. When one's aura runs out, that person is left open to the blows of their enemies. Now, aura transfer is a relatively simple concept. You drain your own aura, and give it to someone else. It replenishes over time, of course, but it can still leave you vulnerable for a short while."

Her voice was calm and informative as she talked. "The amount of aura given differs from transfer to transfer, but some theorize that the amount of aura given increases depending on the severity of the situation and the urgency that the giver feels. Thus, if you were to transfer some of your aura to a person who is about to suffer a deathblow, they would receive much more than if you gave them some of your aura in a domestic situation. Do you two understand so far?"

Ruby nodded, and Weiss followed suit.

"Good, because here is where things get complicated. To transfer your aura to someone else, the giver and the receiver must have a bond. And not just something like the relationship between partners, or even lovers." Weiss attempted to hide her blush at the implication. "The bond must run far, far deeper than that. Very few people ever form such a bond, even with their family members, spouses, or partners."

She paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "No one knows exactly how or why this bond is formed. In most cases though, both people have described sensations of their auras bonding with each others, almost intertwining."

She saw Ruby glance at her out of the corner of her eye. She nodded almost imperceptibly.

"I simply cannot stress enough how rare this bond is. And that is why this technique is kept secret. If it were well-known, as it was in the past, people would start trying it again, if only in sheer desperation to save their friends or loved ones. "

Weiss looked down in contemplation, struggling to analyze everything Glynda was explicitly stating, and subtly implying. So… she and Ruby had that bond?

"Here's a situation. You're married to another hunter, and both of you are in battle against a den of Ursa. Your spouse falls to the ground, and you know the next blow from the Ursa he is fighting will kill him, because his aura is spent. If you knew of the technique of aura transfer and its basic employment, would you not try it, in a last-ditch effort to save his life?"

Ruby seemed mortified by the prospect. "Well of course I'd try to save her! If I…" She trailed off, realizing what she had just said. Goodwitch simply raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two of them. Weiss dropped her head into her hands and screwed her eyes shut. This couldn't be happening.

"Uh, I mean… I'd try to save him?" Ruby attempted.

The damage was already done. But it seemingly didn't matter to the blonde. "Honestly, I don't care what you two are to each other behind closed doors. It's none of my business. Just don't let it interfere with your training, that's all I ask. Now, back to the topic at hand."

Weiss let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It appeared that their secret was safe, for now. She silently thanked Glynda for her understanding, or, lacking that, her complete disinterest.

The blonde took a deep breath, as if preparing to say something of great import. "If you attempt an aura transfer with someone who you do_ not _share that bond with, both parties will die. When you try to transfer your aura to someone who rejects it, which always happens without that bond, it is somehow corrupted as it is sent back. Your body and soul then rejects it; the feedback kills you."

She shivered involuntarily. She and Ruby could have died? A part of her wanted to be mad at the girl next to her for performing the aura transfer, but the rational part of her remembered that the brunette hadn't even known of the technique in the first place. Somehow, it must have been instinctual.

"That's why it's a secret. Combat deaths would increase exponentially, as partners and friends attempted aura transfer on their dying loved ones. As cold as it may seem, it is better to lose one hunter than two."

It was undoubtedly cold-hearted, but Weiss couldn't deny the logic behind the decision to keep the technique a secret.

Ruby chose that moment to speak up. "So, what you're saying is… I somehow transferred my aura to Weiss, right before I… before I hit her?" She winced as she said the last part of the sentence.

"It would appear so. Normally, aura transfer takes a few seconds, and requires intense concentration. The fact that you gave her almost the entirety of your aura's strength, at the same time as you consciously swung your scythe at her with violent intent… it speaks volumes about the depth of the bond you two have formed. All those factors, combined with the knowledge that neither of you knew of the technique… well, such a thing is completely unprecedented. The bond you two share is without a doubt, the strongest I have ever seen. I do not know how it came about. I don't particularly care. I just felt the two of you should be aware of the bond you have apparently formed, and the potential consequences of aura transfer. "

Ruby sat straighter than before, as if she realized how much responsibility had been placed on her. Weiss realized she felt the same way. She had a direct connection to Ruby's soul now, and the brunette had a direct connection to hers. She should have felt scared, terrified even that someone had gotten so close to her, but strangely, she felt nothing but safe. She realized then, that if anyone in the entire world had to hold her soul in their hands, she wanted it to be Ruby and no one else.

She vowed, then and there, to do everything in her power to protect Ruby's soul. There was nothing more precious to her, nothing more precious in the entire world. It felt as if a weight had been added to her shoulders, but one she was perfectly happy bearing. It would give her strength.

Ruby squeezed her hand gently. She had almost forgotten they were holding hands, so the sensation caused her to flinch.

The brunette quickly pulled her hand back with a worried expression, but just as quickly Weiss shot her hand out and grabbed Ruby's before she could pull away. Her partner still looked worried, so she shot her a warm smile, as if to say "everything will be okay."

After a moment of hesitation, Ruby smiled back.

Goodwitch cleared her throat, and both girls sheepishly turned back towards her, remembering exactly whose office they were in.

"You are both dismissed. And remember, tell no one of what you have learned here. If they pry, simply tell them that the system was tampered with, and that was why I needed to talk to you. Tell them they can come talk to me if they want to confirm it."

Ruby stood up. "Thank you. For letting us know. We'll be sure to be careful."

Weiss stood as well, pushing her and Ruby's chairs in as she stepped away. "Careful is an understatement of what we'll be. Thank you Ms. Goodwitch."

The blonde nodded and gestured toward the door. They opened it and stepped outside. Just as Weiss was closing it, Glynda's voice echoed out from the room. "Oh, and girls? Cherish this bond. It is a rare thing indeed." She smiled. "And you two make a cute couple."

Weiss blushed furiously, almost slamming the door shut.

* * *

The two of them walked side-by-side, down the hallway leading away from Goodwitch's office. The walls were wooden and old, dust lamps set into the walls barely lending any light to the gloom.

Both girls were silent, their minds digesting all the information they had been imparted.

Turning the corner, they nearly ran straight into Yang and Blake.

"Whoa- Yang?"

"Sup sis."

"Uh, shouldn't you be at your next class? Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything!" Ruby rushed forward and gave her sister a quick hug, which Yang returned with a smile.

"Good afternoon Blake," Weiss said.

"Hi Weiss. This is Yang's doing, by the way. I was perfectly fine with you two sorting this out amongst yourselves."

The heiress was puzzled. What did Blake mean by that? A sudden panic struck her as she realized that if Ms. Goodwitch had found out their hidden relationship, Yang probably had too. The girl was sharp, more than people gave her credit for, and especially when it came to Ruby.

Yang released Ruby from the hug, turned to Weiss, and stared her dead in the eyes. Her lilac-purple gaze was as intimidating as ever, but the heiress refused to be cowed. She stared right back.

Yang asked bluntly, "What was that? Back in the arena?"

"That was Ruby winning our duel."

"I know that. I'm going to ignore the aura thing, for now. But when she was about to finish you off, she hesitated. She didn't even do that for **me**," she said as she pointed to herself. "There's something going on between you two." She turned to look at Ruby. "And I just wish you'd be honest with me about it."

Ruby stood slightly behind the heiress, looking downward. Weiss shrugged. "I don't know what to say. If Ruby really wants to tell you, she will."

Yang turned her gaze to Ruby. "Well? You're my sister Ruby. You can tell me anything, you know that?"

Ruby's words from before echoed in her head. _"You can tell me anything, you know that?"_ The two sisters were so similar, yet so different.

The brunette chewed her bottom lip, looking as indecisive as Weiss had ever seen someone. She glanced towards the heiress for support, for approval even. It was easy to see that she _wanted _to tell Yang.

Weiss looked down, struggling to come up with a solution. She knew she couldn't keep lying to Yang forever. And the more she thought about it, the less her reasoning for not telling Ruby's sister about their relationship held out. Actually, she realized, there was no good reason _not_ to tell her. If anything, even if she didn't have the blonde's support, it would be nice to be rid of her pestering and her questioning glares. Well then, that settled it. She met Ruby's eyes and smiled, then nodded.

Ruby apparently got the message: her face lit up with joy. She whipped back around to face Yang and nearly squealed, "Weiss and me are dating!"

Weiss smacked her palm into her face. "Weiss and I," she muttered.

Blake remained impassive, but Weiss swore she saw a glint of humor in her golden eyes. Yang simply nodded, as if she had known all along, and wore a wry smile.

"I was gonna ask if Ruby was okay with this. Guess I don't need to anymore. I noticed she looked happy lately, like, happier than usual, so I figured as much. Good to finally hear you say it though. Was that really that hard?"

Ruby looked back towards her girlfriend. "Well uh, it wasn't really my idea. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible, but Weiss wanted us to keep it a secret."

Curse that girl's honesty. Yang's face hardened for a split second. "You telling me you don't want to be seen with Ruby or something?"

Weiss struggled to control her irritation with the entire situation. "No, nothing like that. If I could Yang, and I want to, I would walk everywhere with my hand in Ruby's." She sighed apprehensively. Ruby seemed to know what she was about to say, and, remembering that Weiss disliked talking about her family, slipped her hand into Weiss'.

"It's just… my family, Yang. They would never approve of me being with another girl, let alone one that is in no way wealthy or well-off in society. By their line of thinking, how am I supposed to produce a proper heir and carry on the family tradition if I don't marry a man? That's all I am to them."

The blonde's eyes softened, and she nodded in understanding.

"I'm nothing more than a… than a baby-making machine. They don't care about what I want, what I like, none of that matters to them, it never has." She stopped and took a deep breath. Ruby squeezed her hand. "Ruby… Ruby is special to me Yang. Please believe me, I would never hurt her or do anything to make her sad. I want her to be happy, as happy as she makes me. And believe me. She makes me the happiest girl in the entire world."

Ruby beamed with happiness as Weiss spoke, and even Blake's normally stony face was touched with an uncharacteristic softness.

"So… I know I don't really have the right to do this, after keeping it a secret from you but… if I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right."

Weiss straightened, meeting the blonde's gaze with a determined stare.

"Yang Xiao Long. May I please date your sister?"

* * *

Weiss sat back on her bed, tapping her foot and waiting impatiently for her partner to finish getting ready. The sun was already beginning to set.

She herself had already changed over into a white dress that stopped at her knees, with a creamy-white jacket covering it.

She shifted, adjusting the simple diamond earrings that she felt complimented her outfit quite well. Then, she pulled the jacket up, feeling her arms fill the sleeves completely. It was lined, designed to keep the wearer warm. And she knew she would need that particular feature.

Fall was approaching, as evidenced by the burnished orange leaves floating through the air outside. The days were growing colder and colder, and she was being forced to start dressing appropriately.

Classes had finished for the day, and it was a Friday, which meant it was time for one of their weekly excursions into town. Although this time, it was different. This time, it was a _date_. She turned the word over in her mind, contemplated it. Despite how alien and strange it seemed when applied to her and her partner, she decided that she liked it. She was going on a date with Ruby. It brought a smile to her face.

The bathroom door opened and Ruby stepped out, her expectant features glowing with joy. The brunette was wearing a red and black-striped long-sleeved shirt, complete with a pair of black overalls. Weiss giggled when she saw the black bow in Ruby's hair. It certainly made her look childish and immature, but if it wasn't the cutest thing she'd ever seen…

Then she noticed something out of the ordinary. "Ruby, where's your cloak?"

The brunette gestured toward her pocket. "Oh, I just didn't really want to wear it tonight. I know you don't want to draw attention to us, so I just folded it up and put it in my pocket."

Did she really mean that much to Ruby? She valued her over her mother's cloak? Warmth blossomed in her heart as she realized that yes, maybe she did.

She struggled to keep a straight face. "Ruby… I just want to run up to you and cuddle you to death."

Ruby laughed. "Please do!"

"Well I'm certainly not going to just-" _"Oh, who am I kidding?_ "…Well, maybe later."

Ruby giggled as she twirled around, her hair swishing with the movement. "So you like my outfit?"

"It's the most immature, childish thing I've ever seen you wear."

Ruby looked stung.

"But it also makes you look like the most adorable thing on the face of the planet. I think I'm going to have trouble keeping my bearing around you tonight…"

The brunette instantly recovered, laughing and bounding forward as she tackled Weiss onto the bed.

The heiress didn't struggle, wrapping her arms around Ruby's waist and enveloping her lips in a forceful kiss. She was trying to capture Ruby, attempting to draw out the sweet essence of her mouth and make it hers forever. Ruby leaned into the kiss, moaning softly as her eyelids fluttered closed.

When they finally pulled apart and sat up, Weiss was blushing heavily and biting her bottom lip. She was slightly worried. The way Ruby was dressed… it would be a constant struggle to keep herself away from her, to keep herself from wanting to pin Ruby against the wall in some dark corner and… and…

She mentally slapped herself. Now was far too early in their relationship to be thinking such perverse thoughts. She didn't even have any experience with that! And as she thought about it, she realized that she still hadn't fully accepted that she would eventually be having… well, sex, with another girl.

"_Not that I'm opposed to it…"_ she thought as she gazed into Ruby's eyes. _"But I always thought my first time would be with a man…" _

But as the brunette smiled sweetly at her, she realized that as long as it was with Ruby, it didn't matter.

"Uh, hey Weiss?"

She found it difficult to speak. "Hmm?"

"Could I… could I braid your hair? Before we go out?"

Weiss thought about it. Did Ruby even know how to braid hair? The heiress had always considered her snow-white locks precious; what if Ruby messed them up?

But one look at Ruby, at her puppy-dog stare and her cute little overalls with her cute little bow and her questioning grey eyes…

"Yes. You can."

Ruby let out a squeal of glee and motioned for the heiress to turn around with too-quick movements. She complied, reaching up behind her and undoing her ponytail, letting her achromatic locks tumble down to pool onto the white sheets.

"I'll be **super** careful with it, don't worry."

Weiss hummed in acceptance. Ruby was already running her fingers up and down her hair, and the sensation was wonderful. Something still weighed on her mind though, and it wasn't the revelation of the aura transfer. After a few seconds, she decided to give voice to her worries, remembering that there was nothing she couldn't share with Ruby.

The brunette began separating and twisting her hair, forming layer after layer until a long braid started to form.

"I still can't believe that Yang was okay with… with us."

Weiss heard the smile in Ruby's words. "Eh, you don't really know her as well as I do. Sure, she can get a little, err, well, a **lot** overprotective of me, but she only wants me to be happy. I think she saw how happy you make me, and that's all it would take for her to be fine with us being together."

Weiss was slow in answering. "I really make you happy?"

The thought that she could be enough to satisfy another person, to be the object of their affections and to have them truly love her as she knew Ruby did… it was something she had never dreamed of.

"Yeap." Ruby said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. And maybe, Weiss realized, it was.

As she worked, Ruby began humming softly, a quiet, calming tune that soothed her nerves.

"What are you humming?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, just an old nursery rhyme my mom used to sing to me. It's one of the things I remember really well about her, and I used to sing it when I would braid Yang's hair."

"It's beautiful," Weiss murmured. But then she seemed to realize something, stiffening as she said, "Wait, Yang actually let someone touch her hair?"

"Mmhmm! All the time actually." The brunette lightly grasped her shoulder, stopping her work while she talked. "When I would get scared or sad or something, she would always turn around and tell me to put her hair into some type of braid. She taught me lots of different ones, but I think this one will look prettiest on you."

"That's… nice." Weiss reached up and covered Ruby's hand with her own. "I learned hairstyles from my servants and attendants. And they were a little, well, rough with my hair. They looked at it as just a job, I guess, and wanted to get done as quickly as possible."

Ruby growled. "You tell me if anyone ever touches your hair again. If anyone even looks at it wrong…"

Weiss couldn't help but laugh. "I had no idea you were so possessive…"

Ruby sounded sheepish as she answered. "Well, only with things I really, really care about. Like Yang, or Crescent Rose, or my cloak. Or… you."

Weiss' voice dropped to a whisper. "Thank you," she said with a smile.

Ruby continued her work as gently as possible, treating the heiress' hair with such care and love that it filled her heart with a glowing warmth. Her skin tingled every time Ruby's fingers brushed along her back, and her stomach fluttered when the brunette paused to press a soft kiss to the back of her neck.

"Did I ever tell you that your hair is the most beautiful thing in the world? Uh, besides you of course."

A blush of color dusted the heiress' features. "No, you haven't. But you can as much as you like," she answered quickly.

Ruby giggled. "Well for one I love the color, it's so unique and just so… you. It's like fresh snow, clean and pure and you just want to roll around in it and make snow angels. One like you."

"What did I tell you about calling me that?" She asked in mock anger.

Ruby stuck her tongue out. "Well if Neptune and Jaune get to, then I do too!"

"They _don't_ get to," Weiss laughed. "Not anymore at least. If _you_ really want to call me that, that's fine, but only if you prevent them from ever saying it again. I can tolerate it from you, but only you."

"That works for me," Ruby hummed. "Next time Neptune says 'snow angel,' he's gonna find the barrel of Crescent Rose in his face."

Weiss grinned. "I love it when you get possessive."

"For I am a jealous girlfriend," Ruby uttered, following it up with a giggle. "Hey, I got an idea. Trust me, just relax." She stopped her work for a second, moved her hands to Weiss' shoulders and began massaging them slowly.

She moaned involuntarily and slouched backward, melting into Ruby. The younger girl's touch was sublime, and her mind blanked out from the sheer pleasure of it, losing track of time. After a while, Ruby went back to braiding her hair. Weiss straightened with a blush, gazing at her feet.

"I learned that from Yang too. She's good at a lot of things you wouldn't expect."

The heiress only nodded.

"You really like to be pampered, don't you?" Ruby asked.

Weiss sighed. The question was innocent enough, and as vain as saying 'yes' would be, she couldn't bring herself to lie to Ruby. Her voice softened. "Well… yes. But only by someone who really wants to do it…"

She had had enough of people paying her false compliments and braiding her hair only because they were paid to, with rough hands and uncaring fingers.

"Well that's good then." Ruby's voice was equally as soft. "Because I like to, a lot."

The brunette started humming again, and Weiss relaxed into her caring touch, happier than she could ever remember being.

* * *

She slowed her pace and fell back just a tiny bit, letting Weiss draw ahead of her. She made it as unnoticeable as possible, and thankfully the heiress maintained the same walking speed. It was a little selfish, she knew, and it would have been far easier to just ask. But she wanted to watch the older girl without her being aware of it. So, she watched.

Weiss' white dress swayed as she walked. She almost strutted, her hips moving from side to side as her high heeled boots clacked on the sidewalk. Her perfume drifted backwards into Ruby's nose, the scent of wildflowers comforting and familiar. Her double-braided ivory hair bounced as she walked, the small blue bow tied to the end of it making Ruby's heart pound.

"_Gosh she's just so perfect… how did I get so lucky?"_

Weiss glanced backwards, noticing that Ruby had fallen behind. Her eyes shined in the glow from the streetlamps lining the road. "Ruby?"

"Huh? Oh! Sorry!" She rushed forward, drawing level with her partner again. "I got uh, distracted."

The heiress looked skeptical. "By what?"

Ruby lowered her gaze to the sidewalk as she walked. "Uuuh… you."

A small arm wrapped itself around her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Feel free to be distracted as much as you want. Just don't fall back too far and get lost. That's totally something a dolt like you would do."

Ruby smiled and encircled the heiress' waist with her own arm, but was surprised when the other girl suddenly pulled away.

Looking to the side, she noticed that Weiss was blushing and looking straight ahead.

"Um, you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I just… I almost forgot where we were. That we were in public," she corrected.

Ruby glanced around, remembering the heiress' reluctance to openly display affection around others. She reminded herself that it wasn't any fault of Weiss', but logically, any random passerby could recognize her, snap a picture, and then her parents would undoubtedly find out.

And then it would all be over.

"_No,"_ Ruby corrected herself. _"It won't. Now that I have Weiss, I'm never letting her go. Not for anyone." _

They were on a sidewalk that ran along the beach, on their way to one of Vale's famous piers. Most of the piers were more like carnivals than anything else, lined with games and shops, restaurants and other attractions. Darkness had fallen a short while before, and the horizon was still a dark purple, tinted by the fading light of the sun. Only a few stars shone through the curtain of night up above.

In the distance, the ocean was a deep blue, vast and mysterious in its endlessness as it stretched out into infinity. Who knew what ancient things slumbered in its depths?

And yet as gloomy as these things might have colored the world around them, the atmosphere was alight with the sounds and colors of Vale's awakening night life. Neon lights from the various attractions shone in the dark, swirling patterns of bright colors happy and carefree as they danced along the pier. People shouted and laughed as they travelled from place to place, their hands full of stuffed prizes and fried food. A gentle susurrus of wind tickled her exposed skin and filled her nose with the scent of the ocean.

Ruby felt a huge grin form on her face as she watched the pier from afar, picking up her pace as she grabbed Weiss' hand and started pulling her along.

"You dolt! Slow down!"

"We gotta get there as quickly as possible! It's already nighttime! C'mon, I'll win you a big stuffed wolf or something!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, but started walking faster anyway.

Glancing back, Ruby saw the small grin that she tried to hide.

* * *

"How am I supposed to carry this thing?!"

She had pulled the heiress around the pier, winning game after game as Weiss looked on. She had convinced her to get on a spinning death-trap, where the riders were locked into the inside of a wheel and spun at dizzying speeds. The heiress had screamed the entire time. She had even coerced the older girl her into eating a "disgustingly" greasy chicken dinner. Which, Weiss had later admitted, was the most delicious thing she'd had in years. But this. This was apparently too much.

Ruby looked at her over the top of a giant stuffed wolf, a white fluffy thing of massive proportions. "Well, I mean, I _can_ trade it in for a smaller one. But I did say I'd win you a big wolf, right?"

"That's not big," Weiss said, stamping her foot down and crossing her arms. "That's **enormous**. Get me a smaller one."

Ruby was crestfallen, but she put on a fake smile anyway as she turned to hand in the giant stuffed creature. Before she could though, she felt a small hand on her shoulder hold her back.

Weiss' voice seemed small and timid, a sudden change from a few seconds ago. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you sad. I'm just not good with this whole… girlfriend thing. You won it for me, so I'll keep it."

Ruby felt her spirits lift again. She smirked. "Eh, it's fine. Now that I think about it, this thing _is _a little big. Here, I'll get you this smaller one."

She handed the giant wolf back in to the game attendant, who exchanged it with a much smaller one, about the size of a football.

Eagerly, she held it out to Weiss, who muttered a "thank you" and tucked it under her arm.

The neon lights played on her white hair, making it appear as a kaleidoscope of colors. Ruby couldn't help but smile at the sight. "See, this is why we're so great together. We're like opposites, but we complement each other. Without me, you wouldn't have ever been so nice about asking, but without you, I wouldn't have realized that it was too big to carry."

The thought seemed to brighten the heiress' mood, and she smiled gently. "I see what you mean. You're like the yin to my yang."

Ruby grimaced. "You know, that saying doesn't really work when my sister is actually named Yang."

"I guess you're right," Weiss said after a short laugh. It was a high-pitched sound, but lilted and beautiful. Something Ruby decided she didn't get to hear often enough.

"You know you have a really pretty laugh too? I've gotta make you laugh more, just so I can hear it."

Weiss blushed and looked down. "Thanks," she said quietly.

It occurred to Ruby that her partner always seemed to accept compliments really strangely, almost as if she was embarrassed by them. She resolved to ask about it later, as soon as possible. Right now, further down the pier, there was a glowing green sign that said 'Cotton Candy' that was practically screaming her name.

"Be right back!" she shouted, then ran off towards the stand. Her sneakers thudded on the wooden boards of the pier as she ran. Fumbling with her wallet, she managed to pull out enough lien while also shouting "one please!" to the attendant. The admittedly handsome young man at the stand pocketed the money, grinning at her while the cotton candy spun on the wheel.

"Hey," he said. Belatedly, she noticed that his eyes were a dazzling green.

"Hi," she said back, courteously returning the smile.

"So what's a pretty girl like you doing out here by yourself?"

"Oh I'm not alone, my friend is just over there!" She pointed at Weiss.

"Who, that girl?"

"Yeap, Weiss Sc- Snow!"

He leaned forward on the stand. "Well, what I should've said is, why're you out here without a date?"

Ruby blushed. "Um, well because-"

He didn't give her time to answer. "Because I get off shift in 20. And if you want this cotton candy, there's an extra cost that's not on the menu."

"Um… what?"

"It really only applies to cute girls like yourself." He grinned. "A date." That grin told her that he actually expected the tactic to work.

"Um, thanks-but-no-thanks!" Before he could react, she darted forward and grabbed the cone, using her semblance to flash backwards a good fifty feet. She didn't look back, instead concentrating on searching the now-crowded pier for her girlfriend.

She turned her head to the right, jumping back when she found an irritated looking heiress tapping her foot not five feet from her.

"Um… hey?"

The older girl's voice was firm and harsh. "You, me, Ferris wheel." She pointed at the giant slowly-spinning wheel further down the pier. "_Now_."

* * *

Ruby was confused, to say the least. After roughly half an hour of waiting in line with Weiss, who had refused to say a word the entire time, they had finally been ushered into an open compartment.

Ruby stepped inside, sitting on the bench that faced the ocean. Weiss sat opposite her, facing the city of Vale. To say that she looked irritated would be an understatement. Her eyes were narrowed, her eyebrows arched, her arms crossed against her chest. Ruby withered under her glare, wondering exactly what she could have done to elicit such a reaction in the heiress.

The cabin was spacious compared to most; the Ferris wheel was nearly brand new, made of a strong yet light-weight composite alloy. The wheel itself was a reflective white, and the neon lights built into it twirled and spun in complex patterns, giving it a semblance of life. The interior of the cabin was a deep green, the seats cushioned and soft.

Weiss continued to glare at her as the doors slid closed, and the cabin lifted into the air. About halfway towards the top, it stopped, suspended out over the ocean. The last light of the day had vanished, but the ocean was still made visible by the lights that reflected off of it.

Finally, the girl in white shifted, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward. Ruby reflexively shrank back in response.

Weiss frowned. "Do you remember when Neptune hit on me a week ago, how jealous you got?"

Ruby nodded.

Weiss got up slowly, crossing the distance between herself and Ruby like a predator.

"Now," she whispered, placing her hands on the brunette's shoulders, "it's my turn to be jealous."

She sat down on Ruby's lap and straddled her, placing her hands on her cheeks and pulling her in for a deep kiss. Lips ground against lips, teeth bumped teeth. Their tongues touched, and she pulled hers back as Weiss forced her way into her mouth, claiming dominance and taking complete control of what she declared to be hers. Ruby decided she didn't mind one bit.

She moaned, grasping fistfuls of the back of Weiss' dress. She felt a steadily building heat in between her legs, but ignored it. She had decided that when Weiss wanted to take things that far, she would. She had waited a year to be with this girl; she could wait a little longer to be truly intimate with her.

The heiress broke the kiss, leaving a string of saliva between them and Ruby struggling for breath. She moved her lips lower, eventually finding the smooth skin of the brunette's neck. Stopping at a particular spot near Ruby's clavicle, she focused her attentions there. She suckled it, caressing the skin with her tongue and biting down, albeit gently, on the sensitive flesh.

The sensation was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, a strange combination of pain and pleasure that mingled together to heighten her perception of both. Even through the haze of sheer bliss that had fallen over her, she couldn't help but remember that it was Weiss that was doing these things to her. Weiss was straddling her in a dark Ferris wheel cabin, Weiss was sucking and biting at her neck, Weiss' body was the one pressed up so closely against hers that she could feel her erratic heartbeat. And that made it so much more special.

A few breathless moments later, the heiress drew back, blushing and looking down. She kept her hands on Ruby's overall-strapped shoulders, her chest heaving.

Ruby lifted her fingers to her neck, running them over the mark she felt there. She struggled to remember what it was called. A hickey? A love bite?

"Now," Weiss whispered. "Now everyone knows you belong to someone. Maybe they won't guess it's me, maybe they will. I don't particularly care."

Ruby looked up at her. The heiress' eyes were filled with a combination of embarrassment, devotion, and sheer want, almost lust.

She leaned forward, her lips tickling Ruby's ear. "_You're mine now." _

Ruby found she could only giggle in reply, and apparently the heiress misconstrued that as the brunette not taking her seriously.

"What's so funny dolt?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Ruby laughed. "It's just… you're soooo cute when you get like that." She licked her lips, struggling to put on what she hoped was a suitably serious face. "But you're right. I'm yours, and you're mine."

Weiss smiled, but then looked taken aback. "But I don't mean actual ownership or anything, I would never do that to you…"

Ruby smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, I know what you mean. And the feeling is _definitely_ mutual. Now c'mere, it's cuddle time."

She grasped Weiss by the waist, lifted her up and turned her around, giggling at the heiress' muffled squeal. Placing the white-haired girl on her lap, she leaned backwards so that Weiss could recline onto her, and they could both watch the view from outside.

The cabin was dark; Weiss a pale shadow in her arms.

The heiress shifted, settling into a comfortable position as she leaned back, her head resting on Ruby's chest. The brunette linked her arms around Weiss' waist, and the older girl rested her own hands on top of her partner's. It was a comfortable position, Ruby decided. She wished that she could stay like that forever, with Weiss becoming her entire world as they held each other close.

"So that guy at the cotton candy stand really made you that jealous?"

"Oh, like Neptune didn't do the same thing to you."

Ruby grinned. "Yeah, but I didn't kidnap you, take you to a dark room, and leave a hickey on your neck."

Weiss was silent.

"But I kinda wanted to though." Ruby added.

"Dunce."

Ruby decided on changing the subject, hoping to steer the conversation towards a question she had been waiting to ask the heiress all night. She was decidedly nervous about it, unsure of whether or not Weiss would accept her invitation. Even if the events of the last few minutes had somewhat alleviated her worries.

"So why do you think our auras… uh, intertwined?"

Weiss shrugged in her grasp. "I'm not really sure. Goodwitch said it's only possible between people who've formed an extraordinary bond. And I guess we've formed that bond."

Ruby hummed in agreement. "It's kinda cool, don't you think? Any time your aura is low, I can just give you some of mine!"

"True, but you have to remember to be careful. She did stress after all, just how dangerous the technique can be. If you died because you were just trying to save me…" Weiss cut off, as if unable to continue the sentence.

Ruby kissed the top of her head. "Weiss, if I had a one in one hundred chance of saving you by giving you my aura, I would do it. I wouldn't even have to think about it."

"Are… are you sure?" Weiss seemed timid.

"Completely," Ruby answered. "I'd give my life for you in a heartbeat."

"Just… don't."

"…What do you mean?"

Weiss sighed. "Neither of us are going to die for each other, because neither of us are going to let ourselves get stuck in that situation, okay? If we're smart, and careful, and we play things safe, we should be fine. Because if you died…" She cut off again.

Ruby squeezed her hand gently. "Hey, sshh. It's okay, I'm right here."

"I know that you dunce." Ruby thought she heard Weiss' voice crack with the last word.

She leaned her head to the side and laid a series of feather-light kisses on the heiress' cheek, then moved to the other side and repeated the process. Weiss grimaced and shifted, but made no move to stop Ruby.

She leaned back. Their cabin was over the ocean again, the lights reflecting from its pitch-black surface becoming distorted by the waves. They broke on the shore, the phantom ghost of that sound echoing in Ruby's mind. She wished she could hear them, but the compartment seemed sound-proof.

"So…" Ruby trailed off.

"So?"

"My birthday is in a month."

"I know that!" Weiss seemed indignant. "Did you really think I'd forget your birthday?"

"No, it's not that. Just… you know how I go on a trip that weekend, every year?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes. You never seemed to want to talk about where you went, so I didn't ask."

Ruby swallowed in apprehension. This was difficult for her to admit to anyone, even her girlfriend and partner.

"I… I go visit my mom's grave."

Weiss seemed taken aback. She was silent for a few seconds, but then leaned to the side and twisted her head so that she could grace Ruby's lips with a soft kiss. Leaning back, she whispered, "I'm sorry."

Ruby laughed, a nervous sound. "Nothing for you to be sorry for, I mean I never told you so how were you supposed to know? It's over in eastern Vale, almost in the mountains. The journey takes almost a full day. I can't take an airship, none of them go out that far into the wilderness. I mean, I guess I could hire a private one for the trip but… it just wouldn't feel right," she decided.

Weiss squeezed her hand softly, and Ruby mentally braced herself, gathering her courage to ask the question she had been waiting all night to.

"Weiss?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you… would you like to come with me?"

Weiss whipped around, twisting in Ruby's lap and startling her. "Y-yes! Of course I'll go with you… is this why you seemed so nervous tonight?"

"You could tell?" Ruby asked sheepishly. It felt as though a great weight had been lifted from her chest, and now that Weiss had said yes, she couldn't remember why she had even been apprehensive in the first place. Of course Weiss would agree to come with her. If nothing else, after all, they were partners, and had each others backs no matter what.

"Of course I could tell, dunce. If you can't lie to me, why would you be able to hide your nervousness from me? I figured you would tell me sooner or later, so I didn't ask."

Ruby ran her hands up and down Weiss' bare arms, wondering at how soft and smooth they were. "Thanks."

Their cabin stopped at ground level. The door slid open. Weiss glared at the attendant. He glanced at Weiss. He glanced at Ruby. He glanced at the hickey on Ruby's neck. He shrugged and closed the doors.

"Well that settles that," Weiss said matter-of-factually.

Ruby giggled.

They relaxed, Ruby into the cushioned seat, and Weiss into Ruby. The moon chose that moment to begin its ascent into the night sky, and its ethereal glow cast streamers of silvery light across the surface of the ocean. They danced across its abyssal-black surface, following the motions of the waves.

Weiss sighed heavily. "I've never really told you, but I've always loved the ocean."

Ruby was silent, but squeezed her arms a little tighter around the heiress' waist in a silent signal for her to continue.

"My parents only took me to the beach once, when I was fourteen, but I was fascinated by how boundless and deep it seemed. It was full of possibilities, if you could escape onto it with a boat you could go _anywhere_. I guess, to me, it represented freedom, something I didn't, and haven't had until I came here, to Beacon."

"That's really cool," Ruby said. "I've heard lots of reasons why people like the ocean, but yours is definitely the best. One day, we'll go on a vacation there, once we've graduated, maybe even over the summer."

Weiss' voice dropped to a gentle whisper. "Ruby, you know I have to be at my parents' over the summer."

Ruby felt a pang of hurt stab her heart. She had known, but a small part of her had hoped that Weiss had found a way to stay with her, or even take her with her, as unlikely as that was. She knew it was selfish to put her wants and needs before Weiss' future as heiress, but she couldn't help what her heart truly wanted.

"Yeah, I know."

Weiss sighed.

Ruby continued, "But then we're just going to have to do it after we graduate."

"Ruby… I don't know if we'll even be together after that…"

She was having absolutely _none_ of that. "**No**. We will. I'll do whatever it takes, fight whoever I have to, even abandon my career as a huntress. You mean more to me than anything in the entire world Weiss, and I'll die before I let someone or something take you away from me."

The older girl bowed her head, and Ruby saw a single tear slide down her pale cheek. Her heart was pounding in her chest; her pulse raced. She couldn't stand to see Weiss like this, she had to say it, speak those crazy words that she had wanted to utter for so long but hadn't been able to…

Weiss' fragile form shuddered, and Ruby found herself absolutely overcome with raw emotion. Hurt, despair, love, compassion, hope, all of it mixed together and filled her heart to bursting.

Throat tight, chest constricting, she softly spoke those three words that she had held back for the past half a year. The words that she knew, deep down, to be true. She swung her heart across the line.

"Weiss… I love you…"

The heiress froze, then broke out in fitful sobs, turning and wrapping her arms around Ruby like she was her only lifeline in a raging storm. Her small frame shuddered violently as she cried, her plaintive wails filling the interior of the cabin.

Ruby felt Weiss bury her face in her shoulder, and clutch fistfuls of her shirt as she broke down completely.

At first she had been terrified, scared that Weiss' crying had meant that she was rejecting her declaration of love, but the way that she clung to her now put the lie to those thoughts.

So she wrapped her own arms around Weiss' shoulders, pulling her as close as possible and resting her chin on the top of the heiress' head. Still, the older girl sobbed. So Ruby did the only thing she could think of. She hummed the lullaby that her mom had taught her.

It took several minutes for Weiss to calm down. Several minutes that were almost more than Ruby could bear. She didn't like seeing her partner cry, in fact it tore at her heartstrings. But she was glad that it gave her an opportunity to hold her close and comfort her through the worst of it all. Weiss' hair was still in a double braid, so instead of stroking that, she settled for caressing the top of her head, whispering in her ear that "everything will be okay, I'm here, don't worry."

After a while, the white-haired girl's sobbing stopped. Not suddenly, but slowly, over time. Eventually, she raised her head and looked at Ruby with red, puffy eyes. In the back of her mind, the brunette realized that their cabin was at the top of the Ferris wheel.

Weiss' voice was little more than a hoarse croak. "Ruby…"

The younger girl gazed back at her.

"I…" The heiress took a deep breath, then tried again.

"I-I… I…" But then she buckled, breaking out in fresh sobs and clinging to Ruby.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm s-sorry… I'm trying…"

Ruby understood. She understood that Weiss was trying to say those same three words. She understood that most likely, no one had ever uttered those words to her before, and she had probably never said them to anyone else in return. Telling someone that you love them is one of the hardest things you can ever do.

Three words. Three simple words. Yet carrying more impact than a hundred thousand lesser ones…

She squeezed Weiss as tightly as she possibly could, whispering in her ear, "I understand. You don't have to right now, I can wait. _It_ can wait. Sssshhh…"

The heiress' sobs subsided and before long she was still, but she kept her head buried where it had found its rest: in the crook of Ruby's neck.

The brunette half-heard, half-felt her mumbled words. "Thank you…"

Ruby smiled. "_Anything_ for you."

The moon, with a shining halo around it, re-appeared from where it been hidden behind a cloud, once more casting its silver-light across the surface of the sleeping ocean. Its corona was almost blinding.

She sighed in appreciation, wondering at how beautiful the ocean could be. _Beautiful like Weiss._ Her thoughts turning toward her distraught partner, she realized she still felt guilty about the events of earlier that day.

"Uh… sorry for… beating you up…"

Weiss giggled softly; apparently she was starting to feel better. Ruby resolved to pull her out of her melancholy. She liked happy Weiss.

Reaching over to the other bench, she picked up the stuffed wolf she had won earlier. Walking it up and down Weiss' legs, she deepened her voice in mimicry of what she hoped was a wolf's.

"Hey Weiss, look at me! I'm Mr. Fangs, the big grey wolf! Ruby won me for you, and now I'm going to be your bodyguard."

The heiress couldn't help herself; she broke out in laughter and lifted her head, wiping away the few tears that still stained her pale features. There it was, Ruby thought. The sound that she so adored.

"Hi Mr. Fangs. Thanks for protecting me, although I'm sure Ruby will do a good enough job." She looked up and gazed into the taller girl's eyes with a deep longing. "She's never let me down… and I sincerely doubt she ever will…"

Ruby, overwhelmed with affection, couldn't think of anything else to do. So she leaned forward and took Weiss' lips with her own in a soft kiss.

"_Mmm, cherry lip balm."_

She pulled back and gazed into her partner's cyan eyes, a hundred unspoken thoughts rushing between them.

"I mean it. I love you." Those words felt good; it felt good saying them. Like a release, after so long of holding them back.

Weiss rested her forehead against Ruby's. She couldn't yet bring herself to say it, much as she wanted to. Instead, she settled for a whispered, "I know."

Ruby smiled. She leaned backwards, pulling Weiss with her and giggling softly when the heiress nuzzled into the crook of her neck. It was such a warm and powerful sensation: being this close to her girlfriend. She thought her heart would burst from how full it felt, in the best way possible. Not for the first, and certainly not for the last time, she found herself contemplating just how lucky she had been in getting robbed at a small store in Vale, three years ago. If she hadn't impressed Headmaster Ozpin and moved up two years, then she never would have met Weiss. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.

No, she thought, Weiss was definitely here, with her. If nothing else, then the heiress' steady heart-beat against her chest proved it.

_Thump-thump._

"Weiiiissss…"

"What now, you dolt?"

Ruby grinned. "I can feel your heart-beat."

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

"Don't get used to it or anything…" Weiss grumbled.

_Thump-thump._ Weiss was there, with her. _Thump-thump._ Weiss was irrevocably, unequivocally alive. _Thump-thump. _They were together.

She pulled her just a little closer.

"Too late."

* * *

_**This is what happens when you stick me on an aircraft carrier for ten days with no internet. I'm not sorry.**_

_** Damn I'm proud of this chapter. Honestly, I almost cried WHILE writing it. Also, ship life is horrible. Being stuck in a big hot room with like 150 other marines who all have the attitudes of a high school bully and the morals of a degenerate sociopath really wears on me. **_

_**But enough about me. Got a few questions for you all. Honestly, was this chapter too long? Normally, I keep them at around 7k to 11k words, but this one was obviously longer, coming in at 15,000 words. Do you guys want them this long? Or shorter? I think smaller chapters might be easier to read for those of you who don't have tons of free time...  
**_

_**Also, what do you guys think of how I switch points of view? I enjoy writing Weiss' the most, but I have a lot of fun writing Ruby's too. Honestly, in the show she's got less character development than the side characters at this point, and I aim to fix that.**_

_**I've got a lot of plans for Ruby, and Weiss too. I'd say there are probably 3, maybe 4 chapters left in this story. But that doesn't mean I'll be done writing Whiterose, haha, no. I've got like 10 different one-shot AU ideas swirling around in my head, and then of course the fic about the Grimm Lord, which I can't stop thinking about, and I've finally found a title: The Call of the Void. **_

_**I really hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I did writing it.** _


	7. In Memoriam - Into Memory

**"I'm sorry I thought this show was called RWBY not "The Adventures of Jaune and Neptune's Girl Conquests and Character Shilling. Silly me" - Weissgrip**

* * *

She woke up. Not suddenly, not with a jolt, not with a jerk or a scream or a gasp. She felt her arms. No sweat. Strange.

She lay back, letting loose a deep sigh. Two days. Two days until she left with Weiss, to visit the grave of her mother. It weighed heavily on her mind.

She tried to move her right arm, to check if Weiss was still with her or not. She knew that she was, but a small voice in her head whispered that she was gone, that she was never coming back, just like Summer. She shut the voice up with a snarl and tried to move her arm again.

She couldn't.

Looking down, she realized that a strange mass covered in white hair was laying where her right arm ought to be. She flexed the arm again, this time receiving a small tingling sensation.

_"Durr, it's numb. Maybe she's right,"_ Ruby thought with a smile. _"Maybe I am just a giant dolt."_

She leaned back, adjusting her head so that it fit perfectly into the Ruby-head-shaped depression she had formed over the years. Glancing again at the sleeping form of her girlfriend, she decided that something had to be done about her. The girl was almost in a fetal position, her pale form curled around Ruby's right arm.

It was cute, Ruby decided, but it also looked uncomfortable.

Moving as carefully as possible, she began un-tangling her wayward heiress.

"Mmm..." Weiss shifted in her sleep, and Ruby froze as she felt the heiress wrap her thin arms around her hand. A Weiss woken from sleep at a premature hour was a grumpy Weiss. And that wasn't something she wanted to deal with right now.

Ruby tried to pull her hand away. Weiss held on tight. She grimaced. She tried again. Again, Weiss refused to let her hand go.

_"Well... this calls for a different strategy then..."_

Using her other hand, she began prying Weiss' fingers off, one by one. Carefully. Ever so carefully.

"Dolt."

She froze. Was she just hearing things? She desperately hoped so.

Lifting her head ever so slightly, she peeked over the tangle of limbs that was Weiss, only to be met with two piercing blue orbs.

"Oh... heh heh... you're awake?"

"Obviously," came the disgruntled reply. "Is there a particular reason you woke me?" As she spoke, the white-haired girl straightened out, laying her body alongside Ruby's. She wrapped her arms around the brunette's waist and pulled her as close as was humanly possible.

There was a faint stirring in the back of her mind, a familiar feeling that she now recognized as Weiss' aura reacting to, and mingling with her own. It never failed to bring a smile to her face. It felt like acceptance, in its purest, rawest form. It felt like life, new life, with infinite possibilities and the chance of a happy ending. Fairy-tale fantasy, she knew, but she had been raised on such tales. It was fitting.

"Ruby."

"Uh, wha?"

Weiss sighed. "I asked if there was a reason you woke me."

"Oh, not really. I mean, I had this really weird dream..."

Weiss was silent in response, and she took that as a signal to continue. The heiress was always very vocal with her opinions; if she wanted you to shut up, she would say so.

"There was this big ship, and it was sinking or something. I just remember lots of water and stuff. There was this guy, and he looked really sad about it. I think he was going down with the ship. And then _that_ led into _another _dream... but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know. I didn't like this one at all. It's kind of stupid too."

"Ruby, you keep telling me that I can tell you anything. So obviously, the same applies to you as well. There's nothing you can't talk to me about." She lowered her voice to a faint whisper. "You're always there for me... and I want to be there for you too."

That strange, familiar warmth filled her heart and rushed through her veins as Weiss spoke. She was used to it by now, but somehow she never got tired of it. It never got any less powerful, any less fulfilling.

"Alright. Well... so there was a dance at Beacon. I don't really know why, I mean it's a combat school for Hunters, not a high school... but anyway, so there was a dance. And... well, you asked Neptune to go with you."

She felt Weiss stiffen, tighten her grip around her waist. "I did _what_?"

"Yeah... and he didn't say yes at first, but you two kind of... ended up dancing together anyway."

Weiss let out a long, slow breath. "Well... who did you go with?"

She paused. "I uh... I kind of went by myself."

Weiss didn't answer. Not verbally, at least. She rolled to the side, on top of Ruby, and began kissing her, slow and lazy.

Minutes melted away. Ruby lost track of whose moans were whose.

Eventually, Weiss pulled away, but stayed on top of Ruby's chest. She rested her elbows on the sides of the taller girl's head, their faces parted by mere inches.

"Ruby."

"Um... yes?"

"_If_ there was a dance, and _if_ there was the opportunity to go with you, I would never be able to do otherwise. _Especially_ not with that womanizing scum."

Ruby giggled. "Yeah, he is pretty bad. I don't get what people see in him."

"Well I mean," Weiss was hesitant. "He is... sort of attractive. In a very shallow way. I mean, he thinks blazers and goggles are the epitome of fashion."

"You think he's cute?"

"Only objectively," Weiss rushed to say. "You're much more beautiful, inside _and_ out."

Ruby smiled. She couldn't really think of anything else to do. Oh, kissing. There was that too. She closed the gap between their lips only for a short second, but desperately imparted the kiss with every ounce of love and appreciation she felt for her beautiful girlfriend.

Weiss smirked, then lowered herself down, wrapping her arms around Ruby's shoulders and resting her head beside the brunette's. The soft fabric of her nightgown tickled Ruby's bare arms, and the space where her tank-top left her neck exposed.

She sighed, wondering at how impossibly easy it was for the heiress to dispel all her worries and fears.

_"If only I had told you sooner, Weiss, how I really felt. At least I have you now."_

She rubbed slow circles into the smaller girl's back. She pressed her face into Weiss' ivory hair, inhaling deeply the scent of alpine wildflowers. She sighed.

"I love you," she whispered to no one in particular. For the heiress was already asleep.

She could tell by her slow, relaxed breathing. She could tell by the way Weiss' arms didn't tighten or loosen around her shoulders, but simply maintained an inexorable grip. She could tell by the way the smaller girl failed to react as she kissed her cheek.

_Thump-thump._

And she could tell by her heart-beat.

* * *

**_Here lies Whiterose_**

**_November 7th, 2012 - September 11th, 2014_**

**_Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine!_**

**_Et lux perpetua luceat eis._**

* * *

**No, this done not mean I'm done writing. This is simply a memorial to my OTP, and a small balm to help soothe the troubled souls of fellow shippers of Whiterose. For those of you as upset and disappointed with these developments as I am, this is for you.  
**

**In no way am I down-playing the far more important events of September 11th, 2001. I remember that day. It's one of the reasons I joined the Marine Corps. **

**For all those who have come before me, and will come after, thank you for your service. **


	8. Chapter 6 - Snowfall

_**I watch you like a hawk  
I watch you like I'm gonna tear you limb from limb  
Will the hunger ever stop?  
Can we simply starve this sin?**_

_**That little kiss you stole**_  
_**It held my heart and soul**_  
_**And like a ghost in the silence, I disappear**_  
_**Don't try to fight the storm**_  
_**You'll tumble overboard**_  
_**Tides will bring me back to you**_

_**And on my deathbed, all I'll see is you**_  
_**The life may leave my lungs**_  
_**But my heart will stay with you**_

_**The waves will pull us under  
But tides will bring me back to you **_

* * *

Ruby had eyes like a car crash.

She knew she shouldn't look. She knew she would get drawn in, trapped, caged by them. Staring into them felt like falling down from empty space, vertigo overtaking her, into a silver ocean of pure mercury. Beautiful, flowing, terrible mercury.

Like a car crash. She knew she shouldn't look. But she couldn't turn away.

"Weiss?"

Startled, she realized where she was, whose bed she was laying in, _who_ she was laying next to. She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, which always happened when Ruby caught her staring at her.

It was early morning on a Friday, and warm sunlight filtered in from the drawn curtains, filling the air with a strange sense of contentment and peace. They didn't have any classes until later that day; third and fourth year students had a less demanding schedule.

They left that night, she remembered, for a hotel in Vale, the city. That way they could leave in the early morning the next day, since the airships from Beacon to the city didn't start running until almost noon. From there, they would hike east, until they reached the site of Summer Rose's grave. She wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. She was happy that her partner had asked her to go, but at the same time she was hesitant about it. She didn't like seeing Ruby sad. She felt Ruby didn't deserve to feel sad. No one that inherently kind deserved anything other than happiness and love in their life.

Lost in contemplation, she didn't notice the taller girl lying next to her slowly raise her hand. Grinning, Ruby gently flicked her on the forehead. "Caught you staring."

She snarled and caught Ruby's wrist before she could pull it away. "You don't get to flick me! I'm the only that can do that!"

The brunette stuck out her tongue. "I do what I want," she teased.

Weiss felt hot anger flow through her veins. Ruby would _not_ soil her name and her reputation. "You are _my_ girlfriend, and you do _not_ get to do whatever you want. Now put your tongue back in your mouth, before I do something to it."

Ruby smirked, tilting her head slightly. "Oooh, I don't know if I quite like the sound of that Ms. Schnee. I know an upstanding heiress like yourself wouldn't **ever** do anything so... lewd."

She knew she was blushing. Again. At this point, she didn't care. As tempting as Ruby's suggestion was, she would never let her win one of these verbal sparring matches, these battles of willpower and determination. "You're right. I _wouldn't_. No kiss for you."

Ruby immediately looked crestfallen, lowering her head and sticking out her bottom lip.

_"Hah, __**that**__ shut her down quick," _Weiss thought. _"And that puppy dog look won't work on me this time..."_

Or so she thought. She tried, she really did. But Ruby looked so irresistibly defeated, so hopelessly forlorn, and she couldn't bear to leave her girlfriend and partner in such a state.

She huffed. She leaned forward. And planted a quick, _very quick_, kiss upon those warm, soft lips.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Ruby's grin, ear to ear, so honest and warm that it made her heart melt.

She sighed, wondering when she had fallen so completely for this foolish, crazy, clumsy, wonderful, girl in front of her. She was a living contradiction, a combination of all sorts of attributes that shouldn't exist in one person, but did. Ruby was so unique it was baffling.

Ruby kept smiling at her, while she took Weiss' hand and began stroking the back of it with her thumb.

"I love your eyes."

Weiss shook her head in exasperation, mainly so that the other girl wouldn't see the even-present blush on her face. She tried to refute the compliment, brush it off, change the subject. But all that came out was: "T-thanks... I guess..."

Ruby squeezed her hand, and something stirred in her breast: a now-familiar feeling that made her want to do nothing but spend all the time in the world with the girl. She knew what it was, as much as she didn't want to admit it.

Love.

That feeling was love.

And that scared her. Being in love... complicated... the future. Made it much harder to just go back to her family and get married off. It was supposed to be easy. This was only supposed to be a break from all of that. She wasn't supposed to fall in _love_.

Ruby reached out and brushed her bangs aside. "Sorry, I just wanted to see your eyes better. Hey, that's actually something I wanted to ask you earlier."

She lifted her head to look at Ruby. "What is it?"

The brunette turned sheepish. "Uh... well, it's kind of dumb, but why do you always get so, I don't know, nervous? When I compliment you? I mean them all, I really do. I'm not lying or anything..."

Weiss lowered her head, hiding her face. Her words came out as a mumble. "I know. I know you're not lying."

"So then..."

She lifted her head, fixing Ruby with a level stare. "That's why it's so hard to accept them. Because I know you're not lying. They're honest compliments; you really mean them, I can tell."

Ruby looked perplexed. "But why does that embarrass you then?"

Weiss rolled over on her back. She stared at the ceiling. White. Bland. No painted star-field, like she wanted. Yet.

"You see, my whole life," she began, gesturing in the air as she spoke, "people have always wanted... things from me."

She felt rather than saw the brunette roll over and join her, felt her body press up against her own. Felt a pair of strong arms encircle her waist and hold her, almost possessively.

"They always wanted something because of who I was. Some wanted the influence that would come with getting closer to the Schnees, and they saw me as the perfect way in. The sweet little heiress," she mocked, "that's just not smart enough to realize when she's being played." She almost spat. "They disgusted me. I've received a _lot_ of compliments in my life."

She laid her hands over Ruby's, in what she hoped was a sign of solidarity.

"But never honest ones. Never from people who really mean what they're saying, people who can see who I really am, who I really want to be. So thank you."

She could hear Ruby's grin in her tone of voice. "Geez, don't thank me. It's not like I have to make an effort or anything when I do it. It's super easy to tell you how pretty you are, or how beautiful your hair is, or how much I love it when you do that little scoffing thing."

She scoffed, then realized her mistake.

"See! That one," Ruby giggled. "The only hard thing was holding them all in for so long. Now that I can do it as much as I want, it's almost addicting. I _really_ like making you feel good."

She felt her heart beat faster. Everything Ruby did, her intentions, the way she spoke, it was all just so pure and honest. She felt as if she didn't deserve it, but at the same time, she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If Ruby wanted to be with her, then she would be. It helped that she wanted to be with the brunette just as much.

"So you mentioned that some people wanted to get more powerful by being friends with you?" She felt Ruby stiffen as if she had done something wrong, then hurry to explain: "I mean if you don't want to talk more that's cool, but I like hearing about your home and all. It's, interesting I guess."

"_Friends_ is a nice word for it. And I know you didn't mean anything by it, so if you really want me to, I'll tell you more." She sighed. "Yes, some people wanted to get close to me, because they figured that getting close to me, meant getting close to my parents."

She took a deep breath, then continued. "Others wanted to win my favor for _different_ reasons. I'm not ugly, physically. Far from it, and I know it. I've had plenty of heirs try to win my affections. And by that I mean sleep with me." She felt Ruby tighten her hold on her. "It got old. That's the reason I came to Beacon really, to just get away from it all. To live my own life, even for only four years. I know that once I go back, they're going to try and marry me off. I barely managed to convince them to let me go anyway."

She scoffed. "I told them that being a Hunter would make me more appealing as a wife. A _trophy_ wife, more like."

Ruby squeezed her midsection. When she spoke, she sounded nervous, almost lonely. "Are you gonna do it?"

"Do what?"

"You know... go back and get married to someone?"

She froze up. To her surprise, it occurred to her that she hadn't given it much thought. She was avoiding it, she realized. Contemplation of the future, in which she would be forced to leave Ruby behind, filled her with nothing but self-loathing and pain.

"I... I don't know."

She knew the subject had come up earlier, almost a month ago while they were in a Ferris wheel together. But that had been the long and short of it. She had voiced her fears, and Ruby had told her that she loved her. Which still felt indescribably overpowering, every time she thought of it and every time she heard her partner say it.

No matter what she was feeling at the time, no matter how nervous or sad or angry she felt, hearing those three words from the girl lying next to her made her heart seize up in this wonderful way. She never wanted the feeling to stop, never wanted to be apart from her, never wanted to live in a world where she couldn't wake up and hear those words from the girl lying next to her, from Ruby.

"Well I for one, am not letting you go," Ruby stated. "I've told you a dozen times now, although uh, you've been asleep for most of them. But, I am not." She felt Ruby kiss her cheek. "Letting you go. Ever."

Choosing not to speak, she simply rolled onto her side and nuzzled into the crook of her girlfriend's neck.

Hearing Ruby say that had filled her heart with this strange feeling. One part embarrassment, one part admiration, two parts happiness, and one part... hope?

_"Is this hope?"_ she wondered. She had never believed in it, never trusted in it. Hope was for fools, for people who didn't prepare for and expect the worst.

But as the strange feeling swelled in her, she realized that it was, indeed, _hope_.

Hope that she and Ruby could somehow, impossibly, be together after graduation.

Ruby rubbed her back in smooth, slow circles. She felt a warm smile grow on her face, one that she would have been powerless to stop, if she had wanted to.

"I'm not letting you go," the brunette whispered. "Not now, not ever."

* * *

_"Oh crap."_ She froze, unable to control her body. _"She's __**hot**__."_

The girl in reference was currently horizontal, grasping a metal pole with both hands and holding herself sideways a few feet off of the ground, with nothing more than raw arm and core strength. She was muscled like a panther.

A human flagpole, Weiss dimly remembered. That's what that exercise was called.

_"Why does she have to be hot, on top of everything else?" _A slight whimper escaped her. _"This just isn't fair..."_

Grunting, her arm and back muscles flexing, Ruby lifted her legs until they were above almost vertical, while her upper body remained horizontal.

Weiss could see the sweat practically dripping off of the taller girl's body, see it pooling and running in rivulets through the channels created by her defined musculature. She let herself slump sideways against the doorframe of one of the many private exercise rooms in the gym, unable to do anything but watch Ruby. She had just finished running, and was on her way to the women's locker room to change. Until, of course, she had been ambushed by... _this_.

As she watched, the brunette, who was wearing a tight black shirt and a pair of matching _yoga pants_, of all things, brought her legs out perpendicular to her body, in a sort of horizontal, hanging leg-up.

Weiss could see the fabric tighten around her body. She could see the way her biceps and shoulder muscles quivered from the strain. She could see the way her back muscles flexed and shifted.

She almost felt faint. And even worse, there was a growing warmth, spreading from between her legs to the rest of her body. The need she felt was visceral and raw, powerful and primal in its urgency.

She needed to look away. She needed to look at anything but Ruby.

No, what she _needed_ to do was drop her towel, stride into the room, pin Ruby's arms above her head and just let herself lose control.

It was such a strange thing, physically _wanting_ someone this badly. She had never experienced anything quite like it before. Maybe she only felt this way because of her feelings for Ruby. Or maybe, objectively, she actually found Ruby, well, _sexy_. Judging from the sweat gathering on her brow, she decided it was most likely the latter.

The thought satisfied her though, filled her with contentment. She _should_ find her girlfriend attractive, she _should_ want her. It felt right. It meant that, just maybe, she was capable of having a healthy relationship with her partner.

But as much as she desired Ruby right then, she knew that she should wait. The other girl was only eighteen, after all. Technically of legal age but...

And then there was the issue of Yang...

_"Ugh, why does this have to be so complicated? Although, it wouldn't feel the same if it was easy, I surmise. One day, I'll have her. And hopefully sooner rather than later..."_

It had to be perfect: her first time. She wouldn't allow it to be anything but. She had heard that it never was, that the first time was usually clumsy and awkward, but she didn't care. She would try anyway, if it meant fully being with Ruby, in body as well as soul.

_"I mean, our auras are already one, it only figures that our bodies should be too... Ugh, Ruby's body... those abs..." _She shuddered.

Then froze.

Had Ruby just... winked at her?

Yes, she had. The brunette was still holding herself horizontal, but she craned her neck to look at her white-haired girlfriend.

"How long have you been standing there?"

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks. "Uh... not long?"

Ruby smirked. "I was just joking when I asked. I felt you the moment you got close. Our auras, remember?"

She found the floor far more bearable to look at than Ruby's knowing grin. "Oh... right. Are you done?"

"I am now. I just wanted to give you a good show."

Was Ruby... doing all that on purpose? She whipped her head up, a lecture on the tip of her tongue, but the brunette was already gone, a whirling trail of rose petals in her wake.

"Ruby! Get back here this instant you dolt!"

A voice echoed through the hall back towards her. "Gotta catch me first!"

She sighed, and caught one of the petals before it could fall to the floor. She held it in her palm, wondering at the uniqueness and purpose of this one single petal, when Ruby could simply conjure them up from thin air. What separated it from all the others? What made this one petal special? Why did she catch this one, while all the others laid on the floor?

Maybe there wasn't a good answer. But, she decided, it was because she _chose_ to catch this one. Because she made the conscious decision to reach out her hand, and take this one petal in her pale fingers.

Just as she had decided to take Ruby. In the end, no matter how she felt, she had made the _choice_ to date Ruby. Even after the kiss that she stole on that hilltop, she could have severed her ties to the girl and left the school. Knowing her parents, it would have been easy.

But she hadn't. She had decided to keep Ruby in her heart. And Ruby wasn't just a rose petal. Ruby truly was unique.

She rubbed her thumb over the petal, smiling at how smooth and silk-like it felt.

"You dolt," she whispered.

* * *

There was something to be said about a forest in wintertime. Whether it was how the leaves abandoned the trees, leaving them stark and naked in the cold, or how the snow piled up in little mounds over the shrubs that survived. How even through the biting frost, a few of them yet remained, clinging to their parent trees with a tenacity and determination that was hard to find in the cold.

Even in the bitter chill, life found a way to survive.

It was, Ruby decided, hauntingly beautiful.

The only sound was the crunching of their footsteps, as their boots carried them on their seemingly endless march through the snow-clad landscape. The path wasn't an easy one either. They had crossed rivers of frozen ice, navigated down treacherous ravines, even crossed dangerous-looking chasms on fallen logs. Even in the winter clothes they had worn, the chill in the air was evident.

Ruby thought it was so much fun, doing all these things that she had imagined while growing up, playing in the woods surrounding her house. To her, it was an adventure.

To Weiss, it was decidedly _not_. She refrained from her usual grumbling and complaining, for reasons unknown to her, but she could see it in the older girls eyes. She was definitely unhappy.

"Geez Weiss, why do you look so disgruntled?"

The heiress freed her boot from a particularly deep patch of snow, muttering something under her breath as she did so. "Wait, where did you learn such a big word?" she asked.

"Uh, from you. And you just avoided my question."

Weiss brushed off her head, dislodging the snowfall that had gathered on it. "Well maybe I don't want to answer it."

_"You're gonna have to try harder than that Weiss."_ She smirked. "Well why not?"

"Maybe I don't want to hurt your feelings? Ever considered that?"

Wait, why would Weiss hurt her feelings if she complained? That didn't really make any sense; it was something she did most of the time anyway. "Why... why would it hurt my feelings if you spoke your mind?"

The girl with the white hair, who had strode off ahead of her, spun around. Her cheeks were red from the chill, and it made it hard to take her serious. "Because, you dolt, I'm _cold_, I'm _hungry_, I'm _tired_, we've been wandering around this forest for the better part of _half a day_, and we're apparently still not _anywhere near_ our destination!"

She shrugged. "Well alright. But I don't see how you're gonna hurt my feelings by saying any of that. It's not the first time I've heard you bitch about stuff."

Weiss' eyebrows flared, and she walked up to Ruby and jabbed her in the stomach with her finger. "Why you little..."

But then Weiss let the finger drop, her arm falling to her side as she gazed down at the ground.

Frowning in puzzlement, she gently grasped Weiss' chin with her hand and lifted her head, forcing their eyes to meet. "Hey now, what's wrong princess?"

Weiss spoke, soft and low. "You didn't give me a chance to finish... what I meant to say was, I didn't want to tell you that I was cold, and tired, and hungry. Because you invited me here, to come with you to your mother's grave. No one has ever asked me to do anything like this before, something that obviously means so much to them. And as much as I hate it out here, I don't want to ruin whatever fun you're managing to have. It wouldn't be right of me."

Weiss looked up as she finished, but her expression turned to one of surprise as she saw the smile Ruby was wearing. "R-Ruby? Why-"

Ruby leaned forward and kissed her. She seemed surprised at first, but quickly fell forward into the taller girls arms.

Weiss' lips were cold. They tasted like the chocolate from the trail mix they had brought.

She placed a hand behind the heiress' head, cradling it, and wrapped the other arm around her waist.

She wanted more. Desperately wanted more of this stuck-up, snobby bitch of a girl with a secret heart of gold.

She probed her tongue at Weiss' lips, moaning softly when they parted for her. She heard a quick intake of breath as she made sweeping, swirling motions inside Weiss' mouth, squeezing her body closer as she did so. It felt so wrong, and yet so right at the same time. So _intimate_.

They continued that way for several minutes, until a rumbling noise sounded from Weiss' stomach. The older girl broke off with, leaving a trail of saliva hanging in the air. Her face was beet red, and her breathing was heavy and irregular. She stared at the ground.

Ruby smiled. "Hungry?"

The heiress nodded, still refusing to meet her eyes.

"Good thing I made these sandwiches then. But let's find a good spot to eat first. C'mon."

She took Weiss' hand, finding it just as cold as her lips had been. But she felt the beginnings of warmth, as her hand warmed the heiress' own.

* * *

A few minutes down the path they found a fallen, moss-covered log, and decided to eat their lunch atop it.

Ruby swung her legs back and forth as she rummaged through her pack, searching through the various tools and pieces of gear she had brought for their lunch.

Shooting a glance to the right, she saw that Weiss was sitting quietly, her hands in her lap as she stared off into the woods.

"You okay?"

Weiss turned and looked at her, almost as if she'd forgotten that she wasn't alone. "Hmm?"

"You just looked all broody. Everything all right?"

"I feel like I should be asking you that question. We're not about to visit _my_ mother's grave, as much as I wish our situations were reversed."

She smiled. "Oh come on Weiss, you don't _really_ wish your mom was dead."

There was an inscrutable look in the heiress' eyes as she replied. "You don't know her like I do. I wouldn't shed a single tear if she passed away tonight."

She finally located the container that held their lunches, grinning as she pulled it out and popped it open. "I don't know. I still think you'd feel sad about it, even if it took a couple years."

Weiss gratefully accepted her sandwich. She took a bite and chewed, looking off into the distance, at the pale wasteland of the forest. "Tell you what Ruby. When... if you ever meet her yourself, find me again. And then tell me if you still feel the same."

Ruby smiled inwardly, refusing to let her happy mood be brought down by Weiss' talk of the unhappy future. "We'll see about that. How's your sandwich?"

The heiress looked annoyed by the subject change, but she didn't vocalize it. "It's good. Thanks for making these."

"I used to have to make 'em all the time, back when I went to school. Yang and I couldn't really afford to eat lunch at the cafeteria all the time."

The heiress sighed. "It must really suck..."

She took another bite of her sandwich, chewing as she spoke. "What musht shuck?"

Weiss grinned. "Being poor."

"Hey-hurk!" She choked, then swallowed and tried again. "Hey! You don't get to make poor jokes about me!"

"Well why not?" Weiss laughed. "You make rich jokes about me all the time."

"Because... because..." Ruby sputtered, trying and failing to come up with a reason as to why she should be allowed to tease Weiss for her upbringing, and the heiress shouldn't be able to do the same. Of course, she failed miserably. "Urgh, you suck." She stuck out her tongue at the older girl.

Weiss only smirked in response. "No, being poor sucks. I myself, happen to be a contributing, upstanding member of society with the potential to lead the world into a golden age of energy production. I _most certainly_ do not suck."

"You're right," she shot back with a grin. "You don't suck. Because you're a _lesbian_."

"Ruby!" She attempted to smack the brunette's sandwich out of her hand, but only succeeded in missing, overextending, and tumbling off of the log with a squeal to land in a pile of snow.

In a fit of uncontrollable laughter, Ruby fell off of the log too, landing on top of Weiss as she struggled to rise.

"G-get off me dolt!"

Still laughing, she managed to crawl off of the smaller girl and stand up, offering a hand to Weiss afterwards.

The heiress was covered in snow: it had gone down her coat, in her sleeves, all over her hair. Her expression was furious as she ignored Ruby's hand and stood on her own.

Ruby's laughter died down. "Oh come on Weiss. It was just a joke? Don't be mad?"

The heiress crossed her arms against her chest. "I'm not mad at the joke, _dunce_, I'm mad because now I've got snow in my coat, and it's killing what little body heat I had left."

She could see that Weiss was starting to shiver, and realized that her crossed arms weren't so much to show annoyance as they were to try and keep herself warm. Glancing down at the sandwiches, she saw that they were half-buried in snow.

"Well..." Ruby muttered. "We didn't get to finish lunch anyway, and we have time to spare. So I'll make a fire!"

"That's a stupid idea," Weiss grumbled.

Already putting her plan into action, Ruby started collecting what firewood she could. "Why is it stupid?"

"It j-just is."

"See, look, you're just being difficult. It'll warm you up, and we can dry your clothes too."

"Well then what do I wear while they're drying? Do you ever stop and think ahead?"

"You're being difficult~" Ruby sang.

A short while later the fire was up, started by a reluctant Weiss and a pinch of burn dust.

The heiress took off her winter coat and shook the snow out of it, then hung it on a tree branch that was near the flame. She took her hair out of its ponytail and shook it out as well, running her fingers through the snow-white locks to dislodge the snow in them.

Afterwards she stood there, shivering in the cold, with only a white t-shirt between her and the elements.

"Now what Ruby? What comes next in your brilliant plan?"

She stood up and took off her own coat, hanging it next to Weiss' while the heiress looked on in confusion. Unlike Weiss, instead of just a shirt underneath the coat, Ruby was wearing a sweater. A very large, warm, red sweater, made of knitted cotton.

Grinning, she walked up to Weiss, grasped the bottom of her sweater, and promptly pulled it up and over the heiress' head.

"Ruby!" came the muffled squeal.

Giggling, she plopped down in front of the fire, just as Weiss managed to wiggle her head out of the top. "See? You're so small, we can both fit in the same sweater!"

Grumbling, the older girl adjusted herself, shifting around so that she was in front of Ruby. The brunette slid her arms out of the sleeves and into the sweater, then wrapped them around the heiress' waist. She hummed in contentment.

"I can't believe this," Weiss groaned. "Are you even wearing a bra under this?"

"Dur, of course I am," Ruby said. She placed her mouth right by Weiss' ear, dropping her voice to a whisper. "But would you really mind if I wasn't?"

There was no response, but she couldn't contain her laughter as she watched the older girl's cheeks heat up, even more so than they already were. "You're so easy to tease..."

"And you're so easy to not bake cookies for for the next year." Weiss shot back.

"You wouldn't!"

"I would, and you know it."

Ruby lowered her head, pressing her temple into Weiss' now-loose hair. "Okay, fine, I'll stop..."

"That's what I thought."

"For now," Ruby whispered.

"I heard that."

She smiled, taking a deep breath to inhale the scent of the girl pressed up to her chest. A comfortable silence fell between them. The only noise was the crackling fire, and the wind faintly howling through the trees.

The feel of Weiss' body against her own was intoxicating, a warm and heady sensation, as warm as it was inside the sweater. Thankfully, the heiress had stopped shivering a while ago. She leaned backwards against Ruby, sighing in contentment.

"You're not really that great of an Ice Queen, you know. You don't take the cold too well."

"Just because I live in Atlas doesn't mean I enjoy the cold Ruby. In fact, now that I've experienced warmer temperatures and climates, I don't really want to go back."

Ruby hummed, a sound of understanding.

This time, Weiss broke the silence. "So exactly how much farther is it?"

"Only a few hours. We'll be there just before sunset."

"How can you tell?"

She squeezed the heiress' waist. "Well I mean, I make this trip every year. I know the route by heart."

"Ah."

Ruby continued, unbidden. "It's on a clifftop overlooking this huge river, surrounded by a forest. There's this clearing a ways back into the woods, the spot where she actually died." She felt Weiss stiffen slightly. "For some reason beowolves still come to that spot. I don't know if they remember what happened, but it's almost like it's some kind of sacred spot to them. Every few years I have to fight a pack of them that think they can take me."

"When was the last time you had to fight some?"

"Um... three years ago? Right before I joined Beacon, I remember. I kind of hope we run into some. They can barely deal with, I can't wait to see what happens with you here too."

"You _want_ to fight those things?"

Ruby's tone turned serious, as she felt her anger build at the thought of the creatures that had taken her mother from her, as well as stolen the lives of countless people throughout the years. People who still had lives to live, dreams to chase. People who hadn't deserved to die. "Yes. I want to fight them. Everywhere I find them. Everywhere they keep people from the living the lives they should."

"That's... admirable, I suppose. But do you think we should get going soon?"

She recognized that Weiss had just changed the subject on purpose, but it didn't bother her. It the heiress wanted to know more, she would ask.

"Hmm... not yet." She nuzzled her nose into Weiss' neck, giggling as the other girl shuddered. "Just a few more minutes."

* * *

**_I really have to apologize for this chapter. It's only half of what I wanted to write, I still had three or four scenes planned. Plus, the ending scene was one of two that I've been wanting to write since the beginning of this story. _**

**_But the Marine Corps, in it's infinite wisdom, decided to send me back on a ship three days earlier than everyone else, with half a days notice. _**

**_So once again, sorry for the length of this chapter, and if it felt unpolished and some of it doesn't make sense, it's because I didn't spend nearly as much time editing it as I would have liked to. But I leave in the morning, and I need to get some sleep._**

**_I'll be on ship for about a month and a half this time, so this story won't update till then, sorry. I actually had more written, but that would have left this on a cliffhanger, and I don't want to do that. But after this month and a half, I'll have multiple chapters for you all._**

**_For what it's worth, I hope you enjoyed it._ **


	9. Chapter 7 - Abenddämmerung

They walked along the path, if it could be called that, for several hours more, until up ahead, the forest gave way to a large clearing.

The trees were low-hanging and dark, their limbs frosted and glistening in the fading light of the sun. Something about them seemed menacing.

They stopped at the edge of the clearing.

"Hey Weiss, could you reach in my pack and get my cloak out?"

"I suppose. Why haven't you been wearing it?" Weiss asked, as she reached over and unzipped Ruby's pack.

The brunette bent down to allow the shorter girl better access to her backpack. "Well, it kind of draws attention in a forest where everything is white. I used to wear it everywhere when I was younger, but I was pretty naive then too."

"Pretty naive?" Weiss mocked. "Ruby, you had the tactical sense of a half-dead hippo."

She frowned. "Hippos don't have tactical sense in the first place."

"Exactly," Weiss finished, as she pulled the red cloak out from Ruby's pack. The brunette turned and held out her hand, but Weiss shook her head. "Let me do it."

She grinned. "Alrighty then." Bending her head, she let Weiss reach up and wrap the cloak around her, then pin it in place. The heiress wore an expression of grim determination all the while.

Ruby smiled. "Heh, cute."

"What is?" Weiss asked.

"You. I've never seen anyone look so concentrated putting a cloak on."

Weiss stood back and examined her work. "Well if you're going to wear a bright red cloak, and if you're going to be _my_ girlfriend, then it better look good."

"Cute," Ruby whispered again.

"What was that?"

She grinned knowingly. "Nothing, let's go."

With an exasperated sigh, Weiss turned to follow her partner into the clearing. Ruby fell back beside her, and together they strode through the open space between the trees, clad in bright red and muted white.

Ruby could feel it. The memories of this place, the terror of being attacked, the rush of battle. The gripping agony she felt as she watched her mother die. So many emotions, all at once. It happened every time she came here.

She paused, and Weiss walked on for a few more steps before she realized that Ruby had stopped walking.

"Ruby? What's wrong?"

Silence was her answer.

Weiss walked up beside her, taking her hand. Ruby almost jumped, startled by the sudden contact.

"Ruby? Is everything okay?"

Her tone was low, defeated. "...Yeah... I just... this place brings back a lot of memories. And not really good ones..."

_"Mama? Where are we going?"_

"Well perhaps we should keep walking then," Weiss replied.

_"Not much further sweetie, we're already halfway there."_

"Ruby? Ruby!"

_"But I don't wanna keep walking... I'm tired... and what about those Grimm that papa always talks about? Aren't they out here too?"_

_Summer smiled, sad and pensive. "No Ruby, don't worry. There aren't any Grimm around here." She squeezed her daughter's hand. "And even if there were: don't worry. I'll protect you. If you're a good girl, I'll even make you cookies when we get back!"_

_Ruby beamed up at her. "Really? Awesome!" Giggling, she released her mother's hand and skipped ahead into the clearing. _

_Summer felt a slow smile reach her face, one that only Ruby could bring about anymore. Her daughter was her shining sun, her only source of happiness. There wasn't much that warmed her heart anymore. Not after he died._

_She reached up and adjusted her two-handed greatsword, Eclipse, so that the strap rested easier on her shoulders. It was such a heavy weapon, a massive sword of shining steel that could slice through stone with its sheer weight and momentum. She had trained using greatswords from an early age; she loved the looks of surprise and the fear in her opponents eyes when she wielded it. _

_And she still got those looks, when her enemies saw the woman with the flowing crimson hair reach back and pull an inhumanly large sword from under her cloak. That still had the power to make her smile, as well. That and Ruby. Her daughter, the little eight-year old skipping around in the cold, making snow angels and lifting the mood with her cheerful laughter._

_Content to watch Ruby enjoy herself, she vacantly scanned the treeline. Nobody else was supposed to be out here, if what he said was true. The church was still hidden, still sacred. **If** what he said was true._

_But then something caught her eye. A spot of black in the trees, moving when everything else was silent and still. Was it moving? She narrowed her eyes._

_ Yes, something was definitely moving... and there, another one. But were they Grimm? _

_Black fur moving against grey bark. The flash of a glaring red eye. A low growl, barely audible over the wind._

_**Grimm.**_

_"No..." she breathed. "There weren't supposed to be any out here... he lied. He lied!"_

_With a collective howl that chilled her to the bone and echoed through the trees, a pack of Beowolves burst from the treeline at a dead sprint._

_Straight for Ruby. _

_Who stood there, a deer in the headlights, frozen in terror as the horrible beasts from her nightmares grew closer and closer. _

_"Ruby!"_

* * *

Distantly, you hear your mother call out to you. You want to look away from the horrible black wolf-things pounding towards you, powdered snow flying in their wake, but you can't.

They are almost on you. Your vision constricts into a tunnel of darkness as terror clutches your heart, and all you can see is the wolves.

You are young, and don't understand the concept of death completely, but you understand that you are going to die. You hope it doesn't hurt.

Suddenly, something shoves you to the ground, and you look up in time to see a flashing silver blade cleave through the air where you stood. Tortured screams rip from the Grimm, limbs fly, and blood steams as it splashes upon the snow.

Gazing up, all you can see is your mother in her armor and her crimson cloak. Strong and resolute, she stands over you, swinging _Eclipse_ in brutal strokes that tear great gouges in the earth. It cuts through the Grimm like they were made of cloth, hewing them in half with no more difficulty than a knife through butter. Blood gushes down in great crimson splashes, dark-furred bodies begin to pile up, and yet still the Beowolves come.

You can't see anything but your mother. You can't focus on anything but her, she is your rock in this terrible storm of blood and animalistic rage.

Something changes in her eyes. A flash of something you don't recognize. You pretend you don't see it, but her swings start to slow in both speed and frequency, and her breathing becomes labored. You can hear it even over the sound of Grimm howling in rage, and yelping in pain as they meet your mother's blade.

She looks down at you, her eyes filled with a potent mixture of fear and love. There is a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach.

Your mother's outline starts to blur. You've seen this before; her semblance.

As she cries out in rage, a shockwave races outward from your mother, and it where it strikes Grimm, they freeze. They hang in mid-air, mid-lunge, or mid-strike. Frozen in time, for a short while.

"Ruby!"

A strong pair of arms wrap themselves around you, and you start to cry as you feel your mother embrace you with a desperate longing. You return the embrace, clinging to her harder than you ever have before.

"Ruby, listen to me. Everything is going to be okay." You lift your head and meet her gaze, and tears start to gather in her warm, brown eyes. "I love you _sooo_ much honey, but you're going to have to do what I say, alright?"

You're unsure of what to say, and your throat is tight and raw.

"Promise me? Promise me you'll do what I say?"

You nod, hesitantly.

"Alright." She sets you down and unclips her cloak, removing it from her shoulders. Horrifyingly, you can see the Grimm slowly starting to move again, albeit at a snail's pace.

"I want you to take mama's cloak and hide under it, okay? Just hide under it, and don't come out. No matter what you hear, no matter what happens, _don't come out_. Can you do that for mama?" She tries to smile, but it doesn't reach her eyes.

"I... I can do it," you say. Only part of you believes that.

"Alright." She smiles again, and this time it's real, even as tears run down her face.

"Take this. Hold on to it, okay? Whenever you look at it, just remember me." From her belt she unpins a cross made of silver, with outward-flaring ends. She pins it to your shirt. "Make sure you don't lose this Ruby. It's important."

You nod, not understanding, but if your mother says it's important, it must be.

"Mama loves you so much my rose, don't ever forget that. Uncle Qrow will take care of you, okay? I love you."

"Wait, why will Uncle Qrow take care of me?" you ask. A horrible realization sets in. "Why won't you take care of me? Mama?"

"Just hide under the cloak Ruby! Do it now!"

You can see the Grimm moving again, but it's like their limbs are encased in concrete. They seem to be gathering themselves, shaking their heads and pawing at the ground.

Fear constricts your heart again, and you want nothing more than to hide, to go to a place where they can't find you.

So you do. You grab the cloak by the edges, and lay down in the snow, stretching it over you until all you can see is red-tinted darkness.

Outside, you can hear your mother speak frantically in hushed, low tones. You can't make out the words, but when she finishes, a sudden pain constricts your heart. You clutch at your chest in agony. It burns like a searing black flame, and vaguely you can hear the wolves howl again, and the pounding of their feet as they close in for the kill.

But then there is a bone-chilling scream, a sound dragged from the deepest depths of the abyss and thrust out into the world.

And then your vision fades to black, and you remember nothing more.

* * *

Images flash through your mind at the speed of light. Memories.

Your mother's team finding you alone in the cold, huddled in her cloak with frozen tears on your face and hundreds of dead Grimm surrounding you.

Your Uncle Qrow taking you in, giving you a place to stay and trying to comfort you as you withdrew into your room and cried. It became a nightly occurrence.

Playing with Uncle Qrow's scythe when he wasn't looking. Then one day, he catches you. But instead of being angry, he offers to teach you how to use it the _right_ way. You happily agree.

Staying with a friend of Qrow's when he had to leave, meeting that friend's daughter, a girl named Yang who immediately takes you in and protects you from all the scary things in the world.

They said Uncle Qrow would come back one day. He never did.

Growing up, attending Signal with Yang and making new friends. Watching news broadcasts of Hunters doing amazing things, and even better, killing Grimm. Anger festers in your blood when you see images of them. _They took your mother_.

You decide you want to be a Hunter.

Fighting off a group of thugs led by a man in a strange bowler hat, and coincidentally, meeting the Headmaster of the most prestigious Huntsman academy in the world, Beacon Academy. He accepts you in two years early, at the age of sixteen. You're nervous, but your dreams become something real, something tangible. You're actually going to become a Hunter.

Arriving at Beacon, meeting all kinds of new people, human and faunus, including a beautiful white-haired girl whom you seem to annoy just by being in her presence. Why do the pretty ones always have the worst personalities?

Partnering with this girl, determined that no matter what, you _will_ become a Hunter. And then, to your surprise, Ozpin places you in the position of team leader. You don't think you're ready. You think you'll fail, that you'll get your team killed. But things don't always turn out the way you think they will.

Tracking down Roman Torchwick and Cinder, which led to their arrest, or in Cinder's case, death. It only took a year, and was nowhere as near as hard as you thought it was going to be. Super-villains with dastardly schemes to take over the world always screw themselves over, you just have to give them time.

Finishing your first year, celebrating at a graduation party, talking with your white-haired partner on a secluded balcony, as the stars wheel and spin overhead. You have come to trust eachother with your lives, and it's an incredible feeling. When she smiles, your heart beats rapidly and you grow faint of breath. You realize you've fallen for her.

You've fallen for your partner. But what was her name? Hell, what's your name? Floating in this empty void of memories and emotions, you can't remember.

Ruby.

Yes, that was your name.

"Ruby."

Yes, dark abyss, thank you, I can remember my own name now.

"Ruby! _Wake_ up!"

* * *

Weiss was halfway between furious and terrified. When her partner had blacked out and fallen to the cold snow with no warning of any kind, she had thought it was a joke.

"Ruby!"

She crouched over the brunette, shaking her by the collar and desperately hoping that something wasn't seriously wrong.

"Ruby! _Wake_ up!"

With a start and a gasping cough, Ruby jolted and immediately grasped Weiss' shoulder, using it to pull herself upright.

She was panting, and her eyes darted around furiously, as if she was trying to make sense of her surroundings. Weiss grabbed her face with both her hands and turned it, forcing Ruby to stare at her. "Ruby! Look at me!"

The brunette's wild eyes softened, and her frantic breathing slowed. "W-Weiss?"

The heiress couldn't help but smile as relief flooded through her veins. "You absolute _dolt_. What the hell was that?"

"I... I don't know. One second we were walking to the clearing, and the next I was having this crazy dream, almost like a flashback. You know when people say they can see their lives flashing before their eyes? I know it sounds stupid but... it was like that. It's like I re-lived everything."

Weiss was skeptical, but she knew that Ruby would never lie to her. The girl didn't have it in her. "Alright... did anything else happen?"

"Not really. Next thing I knew, I woke up here, and I was just _really_ scared for some reason. I don't really know of what, either."

Weiss frowned. "Well that certainly is strange."

"Yeah, I-... do you smell something burning?"

The heiress sniffed the air, realizing that Ruby was right. Something _was_ burning, but what?

"Ruby, your pack!"

The brunette flung the pack off of her back, then scrambled over to it and opened it. She pulled out a black sleeping back, which was smoking for some reason. Unrolling it quickly, a silver cross fell out. The snow it landed on quickly melted.

"What the..." Ruby breathed.

"Is that... the cross you always wear on your belt?"

Ruby looked dumbfounded. "Yeah. I don't... why is it hot?" She touched it with her finger, then quickly withdrew it with a yelp. "Haha, yeah it's still hot!"

"You're an idiot. Is there something else in the pack that might have caused it to heat up?"

Ruby quickly checked the pack. "Uh, nope. That's so weird..."

"What is it? The cross, I mean."

"Oh, I don't really know. My mom gave it to me right before she died. Said it was important. I've kept it with me ever since."

"Have you ever had it looked at by a professional metallurgist?"

"A metallur-what?" Ruby asked. She picked up the cross carefully. It was now cool to the touch.

"Someone who specializes in metal-work. They could probably tell you why it did that. Maybe it's made of some strange material that heats up under certain circumstances."

"Yeah... I'll do that when we get back." She placed the cross back in the pack, then shrugged. "Oh well. We're really close now. The grave is... just up there." She looked smaller, somehow, when she spoke.

Weiss reached out her hand and took Ruby's. "Let's go then."

The brunette nodded. "Right. Thanks for being here Weiss."

"It's nothing. We're partners right?"

Ruby grinned. "We're more than that silly."

She blushed, looking ahead so she wouldn't have to look at Ruby. "Right... let's just go."

But when Ruby squeezed her hand, she squeezed back.

* * *

"Hey Mom..."

Ruby walked up to the grave and knelt down in front of it. It was on the edge of a clifftop, a barren place devoid of any trees for a long ways. Far down below, a massive river threaded through the landscape. The sky was overcast and grey, and the whole scene was eerily silent as the cold, piercing winter breeze picked up Ruby's cloak and set it aflutter.

Light snow fell from the overcast grey skies, laying its veil over the frosted ground and the grave itself. It was a simple affair, a grey, stone plaque, slanting upward towards the sky. A blooming rose was etched into the upper half, while the lower half held only a few words.

Weiss moved closer so she could read them. "Summer Rose. Thus kindly I scatter..." she whispered.

"It's been another year," Ruby continued. The heiress knelt beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But this one was the best by far. A lot of stuff happened, and I'm the best fighter in my class, probably the school now. Yang's doing great, Blake too. They're really cute when they're together, and they complement eachother super well."

Ruby paused and looked out over the grave, into the cold white yonder beyond. "Everyone else is doing fine too. We're training harder and harder, and everyone is going to be great Hunters, I just know it. We're gonna do a lot of good Mom, just like you did. Just like..." Her voice hitched a little, but she caught herself. "Just like Dad did. I'm so proud of you guys, and I know you'd be proud of me too."

The sad smile on her face turned into a genuinely happy one. "But I didn't even tell you the best part! So Mom, remember my partner, Weiss Schnee, the heiress to Schnee Dust?"

She turned to her partner. "Mom, Weiss. Weiss, Mom."

It was one of the saddest, most heartfelt things she had ever had to do. But she waved anyway, for Ruby's sake. "Hi Ms. Rose. I'm Weiss."

"She's the first person I've ever taken to meet you, besides Yang. So be nice!" She giggled. "Anyway, I've got some uh, pretty big news. Weiss and I are dating! I know, awesome right? She's super amazing, probably the coolest person I've ever met. She's really smart, and strong, and beautiful, like seriously, the most beautiful girl I've ever met, and she's really kind deep down, and she makes me so happy and... and when I feel sad all I have to do is think of her and I... and I..."

Tears started to stream down her face as she braced herself on the ground with her hands. "A-and I love her _so_ much Mom. I love h-her _so_ much it hurts... but in a really_ good_ way..."

Weiss' heart went out to her partner, and she wrapped her arms around Ruby from behind and hugged her tighter than she ever had before. She felt the brunette's aura reach out, looking for some form of solace, and she reached out with her own. Their auras touched, then flowed and melted into eachother. She gasped silently, almost overwhelmed by the transcendent feeling.

Almost immediately, Ruby stopped crying, and her breathing slowed. She reached her arms up and grabbed onto Weiss', holding them close. Neither said a word, but the heiress' mind was racing.

Right then, right there, she decided. She made the conscious choice.

No matter what it took, no matter who or what tried to come between them, she would stay with Ruby, after Beacon and beyond. If that meant she had to give up her lineage, her family, her future position in the company, then _so be it_. What she held within her arms was precious beyond measure, something she never wanted to lose, never wanted to be without.

She gathered her courage, to say the words she needed to, the only words that could truly articulate the way she felt right now. The way she felt about Ruby.

She clenched her teeth. The words came out in a rush. "RubyIloveyou."

"Wha... what?"

"... I... I love you! There, I said it! Happy now?"

Ruby was on her in an instant, tackling her to the ground and kissing her all over.

She struggled and attempted to pry Ruby off of herself, to no avail. "Not in front of your Mom, you dunce!"

"O-oh, right." Ruby stood up. "Um, yeah, see Mom? She's just the best, the greatest ever. I know you'd love her too. So. Yeah..." she trailed off. "I miss you. A lot, but things are a lot better now. I've never been happier, and I'm not just saying that. When Weiss is with me, I feel like I can do anything. I _know_ I can do anything."

Weiss interjected. "I'll take care of your daughter. Through everything, I promise."

Ruby beamed at her, then turned back to the silent grave. Although it didn't seem so forlorn anymore. The air seemed brighter, as if the gloom of the day couldn't keep their spirits down.

"I love you Mom. I'll always miss you. But I know you're with me too." She reached down and laid her palm over the grave. "I'll see you next year. Bye Mom."

She turned to her partner with a sad smile. "Ready to go?"

Weiss smiled back. Something had changed between them, she could feel it. She felt closer to Ruby than ever. "Yeah."

* * *

Warmth. She was warm.

Somehow, even in the bitter chill of the night, with snow-covered trees disappearing into the darkness and black clouds overhead, she was warm.

They were in a black sleeping bag in a small tent, big enough for only one person. Technically, Weiss was small enough to be half a person, so it all worked out great. Outside, the embers of the fire they had made were cooling in the freezing air.

"I still can't believe you said it! Say it again, pleaaassee?"

"Not if you pester me like that!"

"Pleeaasee..."

"Oh, not the eyes."

"..."

"Fine. I... I love you."

Ruby giggled, pulling Weiss into her so that their bodies fit together like a puzzle piece in the confines of the sleeping bag. The bag rustled as they moved in it, and the only other sound was the howling of the wind from beyond the tent.

"Sorry," the brunette apologized. "I just _really_ love hearing you say that. It gives me this crazy little feeling and I just feel like I can fly and it makes my heart pound and there's all these little butterflies in my stomach and I just feel so _warm_ and-"

"Ruby, shush. I understand. It does the same thing to me."

"You mean it?"

Well of _course_ I mean it! Have I ever said anything to you that I don't mean?"

Ruby buried her face in Weiss' hair. "Well you call me a dunce, a dolt, and an idiot like, once every few seconds."

"Okay... well maybe not that. But I _do_ mean this. _I love you_."

"Eeeek you're so cute!"

"Keep it up," Weiss grumbled. "And I'll just stop."

Ruby gasped. "Nooo, you wouldn't!"

Weiss sighed. "Well... maybe I'd only say it when it needs to be said then."

"Which is like, all the time."

"Stop out-logicing me."

"Out-logicing? That's not a word. As heiress of Schnee Dust, you should be ashamed!"

"As heiress of Schnee Dust, I _should_ be ashamed. For falling in love with a bumbling dolt like yourself."

Ruby simply giggled and squeezed Weiss closer.

After a pause, the brunette spoke. "Hey, thanks for coming out here with me. It means the world to me."

"You're welcome."

Silence fell again, and after a minute, Ruby started to think her partner might have already fallen asleep. But then she spoke, low and almost timid.

"Hey Ruby?"

"Yes _my princess_?"

Weiss' tone immediately turned harsh. "Stuff it dunce. Or else I won't take you home with me over break."

The way Ruby said 'my princess' probably pissed Weiss off. Judging by the way her tone immediately turned harsh, it probably did. But it didn't lessen the impact her words carried. Ruby was speechless for a few seconds. Had she heard her partner right? Did Weiss really want to take her home to Atlas, to meet her parents, with everything that entailed?

"D... Did I hear you right?"

"Yes. If you'll accept, I'll take you home with me to meet my parents. As my girlfriend."

Ruby sounded incredulous. "Are you serious?!"

"Didn't we just talk about me being serious about what I say?" Weiss huffed. "Something about tonight... it all just clicked. I want to stay with you, hell I _need_ to stay with you after Beacon. I honestly don't care _what_ they say. I don't care if they kick me out, if they disown me, whatever. It's my life, and I want to live it with you by my side, or not at all. They will _not_ marry me off to some brain-dead heir just because it'll 'benefit the company'," she mocked.

"Oh my gosh," Ruby breathed. "You're serious. I can't believe you want to do this! For me? For Ruby, the clumsy dolt?"

"You underestimate just how much you mean to me," Weiss whispered.

"A-alright. I mean of course! Of course I'll go... won't it be really hard for you though?"

"With you by my side, I can do anything."

"Wow, steal my romantic clichés too," Ruby joked. "Man I can't believe it."

"That I really want to take you home?"

"Well that, and... I can't believe you actually picked me. Me, Ruby, your partner. You picked me... You could have anyone else in the _entire_ world if you wanted, and you picked _me_."

"It's really not that big of a deal..." Weiss grumbled.

"If you say so," Ruby said with a smirk. "But now I know you _looove_ me."

"Sure, whatever."

Ruby turned her partner around, so that she could nuzzle her face into the heiress' collar, who shuddered in response. She really couldn't get enough of the girl. "Can you say it? Just one more time?"

"Dolt," Weiss whispered. "I love you. Now get some sleep."

Ruby smiled. "I love you too."

* * *

_**Abenddammerung means dusk in German. I really love the parallel, Ruby tells Weiss she loves her in Dammerung, and Weiss is finally able to say it back in Abenddammerung.**_

_**Weiss finally told Ruby she loves her! And she's going to take Ruby to see her parents!**_

_**So how did you guys like this chapter? Technically, all of this was going to fit into chapter 6, the one I cut short because I was going on ship early. But the day of, I learned I was actually going with everyone else, so I had time to finish this, and write the scene with Summer's grave, which is one of the major scenes in this story. **_

_**Praise is all well and good, but if you guys could, would you point out some things I need to work on? Was my prose awful, were my descriptions confusing, did the point of view not make sense? I also wrote in second person for the first time, and it was really hard to switch back to third afterward. **_

_**But yeah, please review if you have the time, and thank you all for reading. I'll be back in a month and a half or so with more!**_


	10. Chapter 8 - Falling Alseep

_**Don't let me go!**_

_** So hold me close and never let me, never let me go**_  
_** At my lowest of lows, when I need you the most.**_  
_** So let's reverse, could you look for me, could you look for me first?**_  
_** I will hold you close, I will never let you go**_  
_** I will never let you go**_  
_** I will never let you go**_

_** My hands welcome yours as you begin to see me**_  
_** My heart is starting to accept your rescue completely**_  
_** This new life that you placed in my heart**_  
_** I hope that I will make it through to you**_  
_** And in my steps you will follow behind, oh**_  
_** Don't let me go!**_

* * *

"Ruby?"

The brunette turned away from her desk, glad for a distraction from her studies. "Yeah?"

It was still morning on a Sunday, and they were staying in, to make up for the work they had missed by taking Friday off to go see Summer's grave. Weak sunlight streamed in through the shaded window, and the air seemed quiet and calm.

"Didn't you say your birthday was yesterday? When we visited your mother's grave?" Weiss asked.

"Um, yeah?"

Weiss finally looked up from her bed, where she was also studying and making up for the missed work. "Aren't you going to celebrate it at all?"

"Oh." Ruby looked down at the floor. "Nah, I don't really see the point. I spend my birthday visiting my Mom and telling her how I'm doing."

The heiress furrowed her brow. "Wait, so that day isn't actually the anniversary of her death?"

"What, you think I'd go visit her on the day she died? I mean, that would just be too... too sad, I guess. I'd much rather just go spend my birthday with her than go see her on the day she died."

Weiss leaned forward in her chair, giving Ruby her full attention. "So, you don't celebrate your birthday at all? Yang doesn't even get you anything?"

"Nope, I told her a long time ago to just ignore it, so she doesn't say anything. Actually, you're the only one besides her who knows when it is. Wait, a minute... how did you remember when it was in the first place? I don't remember telling you..."

The heiress smirked. "One, because you're a forgetful dolt, and two, because you were drunk. It was one of Yang's team nights, remember? The one where we ended up drinking all that wine?"

"Oh... yeah... I still don't remember telling you though."

"Well I do. I wrote it down."

Ruby's cheeks turned red. "Wow... really? Um, thanks, I guess. I didn't know it meant that much to you."

"Ruby, I might not have felt exactly the same way about you then as I do now, but you were still my partner and my friend. It would be remiss of me _not_ to remember your birthday."

"Well... alright." Ruby looked back up, meeting the heiress' steady gaze. "Just don't do anything about it? Please? I've never really been one for parties or large crowds. I'm not really the best at... social... situations. Especially not the kind of ones you're used to, with all those fancy rich people."

Weiss grinned. A plan was already forming in her head. So for now, she had to distract her partner, lead her off the scent. "Well _that_ wasn't completely obvious or anything. Ruby, you wouldn't know high-class if it bit you on your tight little ass."

Ruby's face grew red as a tomato. "My... what?"

Weiss gestured towards the brunette with her finger. "Your... oh. Oh. _Crap_."

Ruby was silent. She looked away, stared at a random corner of the room, and twirled her hair with her fingers.

Weiss cleared her throat. Her face was almost as red as Ruby's. "Right then. I have some things to attend to. I will see you later. Goodbye now."

And with that, she stood up as quickly as possible and left the room, closing the door behind her.

And as she walked away, she swore she could hear Ruby laughing.

* * *

Moonlight now streamed through the window, as Ruby finally laid down her pen and closed her textbooks. Leaning back in the chair, she let out a deep sigh.

"Finally... done..." she muttered.

She relaxed, simply reveling in the fact that all the day's work had finally been completed. Finally, there was nothing looming over her head anymore. Well, except for meeting Weiss' parents in about five months._ That _was always in the back of her mind, a nagging worry she couldn't quell, even though it was a long ways off.

The same questions kept repeating in her mind. What would happen? Would Weiss' parents disown her? Would they not even care at all? Would _Weiss_ break up with her when faced with the potential consequences? Would she leave her alone, again? She didn't want to be alone anymore.

And where was Weiss now? As she looked around the room, all she noticed was how empty and lifeless it felt without her partner.

The heiress had left earlier in the day after an embarrassing remark, and hadn't attempted to contact Ruby since. To say that she was worried would be an understatement.

She couldn't relax anymore. She leaned forward in her chair and started absently biting her nails. Her mind swirled with questions and disquieting thoughts, entertaining all of the worst possible things that could have happened to Weiss. Maybe she'd been kidnapped, maybe she'd been mugged and beaten, abandoned in an alleyway. Maybe she'd decided Ruby was incredibly too clingy and annoying, and had taken an airship away from Vale. Maybe she'd-

The door swung open, and a white haired-girl in a black dress strode into the room, dropping her bags by the door. "Ruby I-"

"Weiss!" Ruby sprang from her chair and nearly tacked the heiress with her semblance, before embracing her completely.

"R-Ruby, what are you doing?!"

"Ohmygosh I missed you so much I thought you were dead or that someone had robbed you or that you'd left or-mmph..."

The kiss was warm and captivating. Weiss' lips were soft, and tasted of vanilla.

After a few breathless seconds, the heiress released her. "Geez. Kissing you is pretty much the only way to get you to shut up these days."

Ruby looked down at her feet and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry... I just got really worried for some reason..." She lowered her voice. "I know it seems really clingy of me... sorry..."

This time, Weiss was the one that embraced _her_. "I don't mind one bit. It's kind of... nice, knowing that someone cares about me that much. Not just anyone either, I mean. I... why is it so hard to talk around you, you big dolt?"

Ruby giggled. "I don't know, it's definitely not my overflowing charisma though. But I know the feeling."

Softly, Weiss laughed with her. "Right. What I mean is, it's nice to know that _you_ care that much about me. It's great that _someone_ cares that much, but it's so much better because it's _you_. Does that make sense?"

"Perfectly," Ruby said with a warm smile. "I mean, uh, it makes a perfect amount of sense. Yeah, that."

Weiss smiled back. "You're such a dolt. Anyway, I got you a surprise."

"Oh yay! Wait, for my birthday?"

"Mmhmm," Weiss affirmed.

"That's nice, but like I said, I don't really-"

"Ruby, growing up, my birthday was one of the only times when I was happy. To me, every birthday meant another year closer to growing up and getting out of that house."

Ruby furrowed her brow. Did Weiss really have happy birthdays simply for that reason?

The heiress frowned. "Actually now that I think about it, that's a morbid reason to be happy. Just... at least I was happy during it. Urgh, anyway, what I mean to say is, there's no way you're going to just ignore your birthday. Not when your girlfriend is Weiss Schnee. Understand?"

"Well... I guess. But-"

"No buts!" With that, Weiss walked over to the bags she had laid at the door, and began rifling through them.

Ruby smirked. "Except for my "cute little butt" though right?"

Weiss stopped. "Mention that again, and I'll give you a poison that kills your taste buds, so you won't ever be able to taste a cookie again."

"Wow..." Ruby said as her eyes went wide. "That's serious. Like, super serious."

"Dead serious," came the threatening reply. Then, Weiss pulled out a flat white box and walked over to her.

The brunette stared, first at the box, then at her. "Um... are you gonna open it? What is it?"

Weiss stood with one hand holding the box, and the other on her hip. In her black dress, she cut an imposing figure. "It's a cake. But not just any cake. And if you want it, you have to promise you'll never mention that again."

"What, the butt thing?" Ruby laughed.

The heiress narrowed her eyes. "Yes."

Ruby rolled hers. "Sure. I won't mention it. Happy?"

"Happy enough." She opened the box. Inside was a cookie cake, covered in various colors of frosting and with the words: "Happy 19th Birthday" written in icing.

"Is... is that a cookie cake?" Ruby asked.

Weiss nodded.

She gulped, finding her mouth suddenly dry. A younger Ruby from two years ago would have leapt at the cake without a moment of hesitation. But this wasn't younger Ruby. This was older, more mature Ruby, with longer hair, a more adult-looking face, and more life experience.

She lasted five seconds more before throwing herself at it.

Weiss held her back with one arm, holding the cake away with the other and spinning to keep Ruby away.

"Nah ah ah! Not until I show you your other presents!"

Ruby's frantic struggles slowed, and her eyes held a profound sadness, like that of a kicked puppy. "But... but..."

"What did I say about buts! Down! Now!"

With a whimper and a pouting lower lip, Ruby plopped down onto the floor. "Fine."

The heiress watched her for a few seconds, then placed the cake on her own bed. Warily, she walked over to the bags and pulled out multiple black cases, all taped together, and a smaller parcel wrapped in brown paper.

She set the cases down in front of Ruby. "Specialized ammunition, all chambered for Crescent Rose. Burn, freeze, wind, and lighting dust," she counted off on her fingers as she spoke. "Acidic, EMP, titanium sabot AP, HEDP, tranquilizer rounds with built-in tracking, and even two new types that I pulled a few favors to acquire."

She held up a black case marked with a red X. "These rounds have a miniature rocket in the projectile itself. The armorer assured me that they can reach out to two thousand metres."

"And these," she said, as she held up another black case. This one was marked with tiny white dots in a grid pattern. "These are a prototype round that's supposed to be effective against Grimm. They have tiny hypersonic emitters in them that emit a piercing noise far above our levels of hearing. But once the round lodges itself in a Grimm, those sound waves do something strange to them. Apparently they go insane, start clawing at themselves and eachother, completely ignore everything else around them. They don't really know why yet, but it works," Weiss finished. She put the case down, then turned to look at Ruby.

The girl was drooling. She was _drooling_.

Weiss pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger, and let out a deep sigh. "Maybe that was a bad idea."

Ruby jumped up, running over to the cases. "Are you kidding?! This is like the coolest thing anyone has ever gotten me holy crap wowww!" She frantically opened them, holding the rounds up to the lamp-light and marveling at each one in turn. "Weiss this is so awesome! Thank you thank you thank you!"

The heiress smirked, obviously pleased with herself. "You're welcome."

"Ohmygosh," Ruby breathed. She set the case she was holding down. "I'm gonna have to take like, a few hours to myself and just go through all this and load them into clips. And then I'll have to test-fire them at a range!" She hugged herself and shook back and forth. "Gaah I'm so excited!"

"Well before you do that, I still have one more thing for you."

Ruby looked up. "Really?"

Weiss held out the small parcel she carried, a small object wrapped in brown paper.

Curious, Ruby took it, sat down on her bed, and unwrapped it. It was a small circular locket, made of silver and engraved with a blooming rose, which in turn appeared to be made up of tiny diamonds.

"Wowww... Weiss it's so pretty! Are those... are those real diamonds?"

Weiss huffed, as if offended that Ruby had considered any other possibility. "Well of course they are. I am a Schnee, remember?"

Ruby smiled and opened it, but looked back up at Weiss when she saw that it was empty. "But there aren't any pictures inside?"

"Ruby, have we taken any pictures together yet? I mean, of us _actually _together?"

"Well... now that you mention it, I don't think so." Ruby tapped her chin in thought. "Oh, I know! Ren has that really nice camera remember?"

Weiss scoffed. "Right, ever since he picked up photography as a hobby. What a strange thing to do."

"To each their own," Ruby said with a shrug. "Anyway, I'll ask if we can borrow it, and we'll take a picture of us like, holding hands or something. Then I can put one of you smiling in the left slot, and the picture of us together in the right!"

The heiress cocked her head to the side. "Why a picture of me smiling?"

Ruby set the locket down on her dresser. "Because you have a really beautiful smile, and I want to see it more often."

And there it was, Ruby thought. That smile.

"Oh stop, you," Weiss laughed.

"Hey!" Ruby exclaimed. "You're not blushing as much this time!"

Weiss looked down in embarrassment.

"Oh... well, you weren't, haha."

"Yeah I was... trying to work on it. Being less embarrassed when you compliment me, I mean. I thought I was getting better."

Ruby wrapped her arm around the heiress' shoulder and pulled her closer. "You are, don't worry. I think it's cute."

"Stop calling me that," Weiss grumbled.

Ruby giggled in reply. "So was this where you were, out in Vale City all day getting this stuff?"

The heiress nodded. "Sorry for not telling you where I was going. I didn't mean to worry you." She glanced over at the desk, noticing the study material haphazardly strewn about it. "Were you studying all day?"

"Yeap. Well, not all day, actually. I did something else too."

Weiss looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Uh... oh, I got an idea! Here, lay back with me!" She grasped Weiss by the shoulder and laid back on the bed, gently pulling the heiress with her.

"Ruby, what are we doing?" she huffed.

"You'll see." As soon as Weiss lay on her back beside her, Ruby clapped her hands twice.

And the lights turned off, and the ceiling lit up. Painted starfields, whirling nebula, shooting stars, all laid out like a tapestry of the night sky, glowing in the dark upon the deep blue backdrop of the ceiling in beautiful detail.

Weiss was breathless. "Ruby... how... how long did this take you?"

"Not too long," she whispered in reply. "I uh, kinda used stencils to draw the stars and stuff. I can't really paint _that_ good."

"It's beautiful..."

"You really like it that much?"

Instead of replying, Weiss rolled on top of her and pressed a long, slow kiss to her lips. The heiress' white hair tickled the side of her face. The sensations were amplified by the darkness, since she couldn't see Weiss at all. She could only_ feel_ her.

"I love it," the heiress whispered. "I love _you_."

A giant grin stretched its way across Ruby's face, and she kicked her legs back and forth with glee. "Auugh how did I get such an awesome girlfriend?"

"Shush you dolt, you're ruining the moment." But Weiss smiled back, barely visible in the dark.

She rolled off of Ruby, and they laid there side by side, staring up at the painted starfield.

After a while Weiss sighed, a plaintive sound. Ruby could instantly tell that something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" Ruby asked.

"Just... summer break is in only five months."

"You're not worried about the end of the year exams or anything? Just going home to your parents?"

"Well, going with _you_. And Ruby, if I ever failed my exams, I'd go into self-imposed exile," she laughed.

"Yeesh, don't do that," Ruby replied with a giggle, then paused. "You look good in black, by the way," she whispered.

Weiss shifted her head so that it was leaning against Ruby's. Their fingers found eachother and intertwined. Their auras did the same.

"Happy birthday Ruby, " Weiss whispered.

The brunette thanked her with her lips.

As Weiss laid her head back again, she thought about the girl next to her. When she had first met Ruby, the thought of falling in love with her had never even entered her mind. And ending up in an actual, working relationship? Well, that was simply preposterous.

And yet here they were, and she couldn't imagine things any other way. She didn't _want_ things any other way.

_"This is perfect," _Weiss found herself thinking._ "Nothing can take this moment from me."_

"So uh... can I have some of that cake now?"

* * *

**-4 months until summer break-**

Weiss found herself walking alone, down a stone pathway between class buildings. There was a spring in her step that wasn't there a few months ago.

She glanced at the other students as she passed them. The only thing that set her school uniform apart from theirs were the simple diamond earrings she wore. She thought them a simple, yet elegant touch.

There was a familiar scent on the air, and she smirked as she recognized it. A red flash blurred into existence by her side, and solidified into the shape of her partner, sporting a huge grin.

"Hi Ruby."

"Heya Weiss! How was your day?"

The heiress shrugged. "Decent enough. Yours?"

"About the same. Couldn't end quickly enough, I can't wait for tonight."

"Ah yes, team night. It's Blake's turn to pick where we go, isn't it?"

"Yeap. I just hope we don't go sit in a library this time," Ruby snickered.

"Really Ruby? The bookworm jokes stopped being funny in a year ago."

"Yeah... I know. I'm trying to bring 'em back."

"Well do us all a favor, and don't."

Ruby grinned and intentionally bumped into her partner. Weiss frowned and bumped her back, and the brunette giggled.

"So when can we hold hands?" Ruby asked, changing the subject.

"We've talked about this before, remember? When we tell my parents. I don't want them finding out beforehand; it's going to be hard enough as it is."

Ruby folded her hands behind her head as they walked, closer and closer towards the large fountain at the center of campus.

"Makes sense. I just wish I could kiss you so everyone else could see."

Weiss frowned. "What, you want to show me off?"

"No, but I'm really proud of you, and..." Ruby paused, looking thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess I _do_ kind of want to show you off. Err, well, show off that we're together. I dunno, it sounds kind of weird now. Ugh, you made it sound weird!"

"If I made it sound weird, it was _probably_ weird to begin with."

Ruby looked sidelong at the heiress, rubbing the back of her neck. "I guess what I meant to say, is that I want to show off the fact that we're together. Does that sound better?"

Weiss smirked. "Sure, we'll go with that."

They drew closer to the fountain, close enough to see Yang and Blake waiting for them. The two girls appeared to be in the midst of a lively conversation.

Ruby grinned and bumped into Weiss one last time, then flashed off, re-appearing next to Yang. The blonde didn't skip a beat.

"Ruby, sleep in a haunted house for a night, or fight an Ursa without your weapon. Go."

Blake looked at her expectantly, and the brunette frowned and tapped her chin. "Um... is the house _actually_ haunted? Like, with real ghosts?"

"You don't know," Blake clarified.

"Um..."

"Definitely the haunted house," Weiss interjected, as she walked up to the group. "Ghosts aren't real anyway, but fighting an Ursa without your weapon is one of the _dumbest_ ideas I've ever heard."

Ruby grinned. "Ooh good point. I'm gonna have to agree with her. Ghosts can't really hurt you, but an Ursa _definitely_ can."

A victorious grin stretched its way across Blake's face, and she patted Yang on the back. The blonde sighed. "Sorry Yang, you're the only here with a fear of ghosts, it seems. And to be fair, you're probably the only one of us that could actually _win_ against an Ursa with your bare fists."

That brought a smile to Yang's face. "Yeah, I probably am." She mimicked some jabs and a brutal uppercut. "He wouldn't stand a chance."

"If you're done shadowboxing," Weiss cut in,"Blake, have you decided what we're doing for team night?"

"I feel like Mistralian pasta," Blake replied.

Ruby looked at her in confusion. "So... just dinner?"

Blake nodded. "There's this really good pasta place I've heard about. I checked them out online, they've gotten really good reviews."

"Is there anything you _don't_ do research on?" Yang asked.

Blake chuckled. "Dating you, apparently. If I'd known what I was getting myself into..."

Yang reached over and laid her arm over Blake's shoulders. "Aww, you love me though. You'd have done it anyway."

"That's besides the point," Blake said. But she couldn't hide the smile on her face.

* * *

"Here," Ruby said. "Try these on."

They were in their room, preparing for their trip into Vale. It was still early evening, but the sky was blanketed in gloomy slate-grey clouds. The threat of rain hung heavy in the air.

"What are... No. I am _not _wearing sneakers."

"Oh come on, please?" Ruby pleaded.

Weiss crossed her arms. "No! _You_ might be comfortable in ratty street clothes, but _I _won't be caught dead in them. _I_ actually have a reputation to uphold."

"Fine your worshipfullness." Ruby said, letting out a sigh. "I just wish you wouldn't wear high heels so much. You know they're really bad for your feet right? I mean, they probably feel fine right now, but they give you a lot of bone and tendon problems later on. And I don't want that to happen to your cute little feet."

Weiss grimaced. "My _cute little feet_?"

"Yeap. They're so tiny!"

"Oh shut up," Weiss replied, turning to hide the blush on her face. But when her partner left for the bathroom, she snatched the white sneakers from Ruby's bed.

* * *

"Told you you'd like those sneakers," Ruby whispered to her.

Weiss simply huffed, as the hostess led them through a warren of tight, candle-lit wooden corridors. The restaurant was built into a large hill, and had multiple levels and rooms. They were all dressed in casual clothes, nothing too fancy. The restaurant wasn't _that_ formal, even if it was a far cry from a street vendor. Landscape paintings from Mistral lined the walls, and each room they passed by held a white-clothed circular table with patrons in various stages of ordering, waiting for their orders, or eating.

The sound of light conversation echoed through the low, almost tunnel-like passageways they were led through. Eventually they reached a room near what Weiss assumed was the back of the restaurant: a small space with room enough for a simple table capable of seating exactly four people. Warm light emanated from the group of candles in the center of it; the only source of light in the room. Aside from their silverware and menus, the only other item on the table was a thin glass vase with a tulip in it.

They took their seats, received their menus with gracious "thank you's," and started looking through them.

"Sooooo," Ruby began," why'd you pick this place Blake?"

She shrugged. "Always looked interesting to me. Plus, I was hungry for Mistralian honestly. It's been a while since I've had good pasta."

Ruby nodded and looked back to her menu, but as she did, Weiss saw Blake and Yang share a grin.

She frowned as she considered her wine choices, wondering what they were up to. Ruby's hand found hers under the table, and her heart fluttered a little. It was a reassuring sensation, something that always served to keep her grounded and stable.

The world could be burning and falling apart, she thought, and she would be fine as long as her hand was in Ruby's. Her frown turned upward into a small grin.

Their waiter arrived and introduced himself, and they all placed their orders. And after writing all of it down, he left, leaving the four of them alone in the room.

Yang leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms behind her head. "You guys don't have to hold hands under the table, you know."

She stiffened, feeling blood rush to her cheeks. Ruby simply smiled, and pulled their entwined hands up and placed them on top of the table. In full view of everyone.

Weiss frantically checked behind her to see if anyone was in the doorway."Dolt! What if someone sees us?"

Blake spoke up in her usual dry, disconcerting tone. "Weiss, that's one of the reasons I picked this place. These rooms are as private as you can get, without renting out the whole place anyway."

"These are pretty much double dates now too," Yang added. "So we figured we'd get you some privacy, seeing as how the only place you two can be yourselves is in your room."

Ruby beamed at them. "Best sister_ everrrr_~," she sang.

"Don't I know it," Yang replied with a grin.

Actually, Weiss considered, it _was_ an incredibly thoughtful gesture, one she hadn't been expecting from Yang, of all people. But then again, the blonde _was_ considerably more... tolerable, when Blake was around to temper her more annoying tendencies.

She nodded, albeit slowly. "Thank you then. That was quite thoughtful of you two." To emphasize the point, she squeezed Ruby's hand. The brunette looked over at her, smiled, and squeezed back.

Yang and Blake smiled too.

Looking sidelong at Ruby, she realized that the brunette was still staring at her. She coughed to clear her throat, and Ruby jolted, then quickly looked back at the rest of the group. "So uh, what have you guys been up to?"

"Not much," Yang said. "Although I'm hearing rumors that this year's final exam is gonna be a little unorthodox.

Weiss raised her eyebrow. "Unorthodox?"

Blake nodded. "Apparently, it's going to be a field exam, and they're going to start sending us on field exercises more often, to prepare us I assume."

"So like, what, scouting missions into Forever Fall or something?" Ruby asked.

"Extended missions," Blake clarified. "Multiple days long. And get this, apparently they're solo missions. For the most part."

"I guess they feel we need more individual training." Weiss said. "It makes sense, in its own way. We've been working with our partners for so long, but what happens if, or when, we get separated? We need to learn how to operate on our own to be effective Hunters."

"Yeap. But those are just rumors right now," Yang stated. "So who really knows what's gonna happen."

"I just hope it's not another hundred-question long test," Ruby groaned.

Yang laughed at her sister's unease. Even though Ruby's study habits had drastically improved, she was still no fan of long tests. "I know right? That was killer."

"I slept for like, thirteen hours after that one," Ruby said.

Weiss glared at her. "That's only because you were up the entire day beforehand. I told you, cookies are _not_ a good way to keep focused while studying. If sugar poisoning was a thing, you would have died from it."

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Ruby murmured.

The conversation continued, light-hearted and friendly. After almost three years, the members of Team RWBY knew eachother like childhood friends, and nights like this only served to strengthen that bond.

The waiter arrived with their food, and Ruby let her hand slip from Weiss' while he was in the room. The instant he left thought, she grasped it again. The heiress only shook her head in amusement.

They ate, laughed, and talked long into the night.

Ruby slipped her shoes off under the table, and rubbed her feet up and down her girlfriend's legs, who attempted to keep a straight face all the while.

When they finally left, full in both body and spirit, each of them reflected on how well things had turned out.

And yet, Weiss couldn't keep a single, nagging thought from worrying her.

_"Only four months until summer break... only four months until I have to go home..."_

But then she glanced at Ruby, and saw the smile she was wearing. Somehow, it made the night so much brighter. Lights shone stronger, and the air seemed warmer and more welcoming.

Maybe, she reconsidered, just maybe, things would turn out alright.

Maybe.

* * *

**\- 3 months until summer break -**

Ruby frowned in concentration.

It was late morning. Light streamed through the open window, along with a warm breeze that rustled the pages of her open textbook. A solitary songbird was singing somewhere in the distance, hidden among the bright green trees and flowering bushes of the spacious glen that made up the view from her room.

As focused as she was on studying, her mind didn't register the sound of the door opening until a few seconds after the fact. Curious, she turned around. And then her face lit up in a huge grin, and she sprang out of her chair to rush to her partner.

"OhmygoshWeissyou'rebackI-"

But Weiss stopped her with a raised hand. Ruby halted, puzzled, and took a second look at her girlfriend.

Weiss looked _bad_. Her field outfit: loose green and brown clothes made more for utility than fashion, were torn and disheveled. Her hair was matted and dirty, even brown in clumped patches. Her face was stained with the grime of five straight days of field exercises.

She looked_ exhausted_, in every sense of the word.

Ruby's eyes softened as she met Weiss' dull, lifeless ones.

The heiress' words came out as a mumble. "Ruby, I've been in the field for _five days_, the last three of which I haven't slept for. I've never been so tired in my life. Please, I just want to shower and go to bed."

Ruby closed the gap regardless, and pulled her into a tight embrace, which Weiss almost collapsed into. "Here," she whispered," let me help you with that then."

She pulled the heiress' pack off of her back, then helped her take off her jacket. Weiss struggled against her at first, her pride undoubtedly preventing her from accepting help so easily. But she lacked the strength to do so, and quickly relented to Ruby's help.

Ruby smiled. "Hey, just finish taking off your clothes, I'll get the shower going."

After turning on the shower and leaving the water running hot, she walked back into the room to see Weiss struggling with her pants. She suppressed a giggle.

"Here, let me." The heiress sighed and stopped, and Ruby sat her on her bed and slid her pants off the rest of the way. She looked off to the side; Weiss only had compression shorts on under them. She stood the heiress up, then lifted her shirt off of her head.

"C'mon, shower time," she whispered. Supporting her girlfriend, she led her into the bathroom, turning her back as Weiss slowly shed her bra and shorts. The heiress stepped into the shower, but simply stood there with her head propped up against the wall, letting the water run down her bare back.

Dirty, brown water was already pooling on the floor of the shower, along with twigs and leaves.

Ruby frowned when she saw Weiss' complete lack of reaction to the water. "Now that just won't do," she mumbled to herself. An idea popped into her head, and with it, an opportunity to get closer to Weiss.

Before she could think twice, before she could stop herself, she ran back into the room and took off her clothes. All of them.

She hoped Weiss wouldn't mind, but she also realized the other girl would probably be too tired to care. In truth, she was terribly nervous about being naked in the same room as Weiss, let alone the same shower. She stopped outside the door to the bathroom and folded her arms across her well-endowed chest, nervous thoughts catching up to her actions. Was she really about to be naked, in the same shower, with _Weiss_? The heiress of Schnee Dust, her partner, her best friend?

Her girlfriend?

The girl she was in love with?

Was she ready?

But on the other hand, she reasoned with herself, the other girl obviously needed her help, and there was nothing she wouldn't do for Weiss. Besides, it wasn't as if she was going to actually do anything... indecent, Weiss just needed help washing her hair. The other girl had been struggling to even lift her own arms. Ruby knew that feeling, having experienced the same soreness after long gym sessions. She couldn't imagine how Weiss' body must feel after five days of near-constant exertion.

And in the end, all she wanted was for Weiss to feel good. She smiled, her mind made up.

She slid open the fogged glass door, stepped back into the shower, and lightly laid her hands on the white-haired girl's shoulders. The heiress froze at her touch.

"Ruby, what are you-"

"Shhh..."

She ran her fingers through Weiss' hair, and started washing the dirt and grime out of it. It struck her as a travesty that Weiss' perfect, flawless locks were sullied by the earth. It seemed as if they came from a higher, more beautiful place, and shouldn't be dragged down to this mortal plane.

As hesitant as she had been at first, Weiss quickly relaxed into her touch, as if she was welcoming Ruby's presence. Or maybe she was, in fact, simply too tired to care. She hoped it was the former. She squirted shampoo into her hands and rubbed it into the heiress' scalp with as much care as possible.

She struggled to suppress a grin; caring for Weiss' alabaster hair was quickly becoming one of her favorite things to do. It was just so _beautiful_, and touching it felt like a privilege that she wasn't deserving of.

As she worked, she struggled to keep her eyes off of the rest of her partner's body. And admittedly, she failed. She tried, she really did. But she couldn't keep from admiring Weiss' gentle curves, her petite frame and her pale, almost porcelain skin. She used her care of her girlfriend's hair as an excuse to lift the girl's hair away from her body, and her heart pounded rapidly as she gazed at Weiss' smooth, unmarked back.

_"How is she so perfect..."_ she found herself wondering._ "Mmm, except for that scar on her eye. That one mark, on an otherwise _flawless _body..." _

After she was one hundred-percent sure that Weiss' hair was as immaculate as the day she had arrived at Beacon, she let it fall back down, and then let her hands slip to her sides. As much as she wanted to touch Weiss' body, to feel that smooth skin against her hands...

She knew they weren't ready yet. And she would never take advantage of her in her nearly-unconscious state.

Never, in a thousand years.

So she placed her hands on Weiss' shoulders, and whispered in her ear:" Hey, you're gonna have to finish washing the rest of... uh, yourself. I'll be waiting in the room."

She exited the bathroom, changed into pajamas, and sat down on her bed. After a moment of thought, she pulled out Weiss' nightgown and laid it on the bathroom sink.

And then returned to waiting. And worrying.

She had never seen her partner this tired, in both mind and body, and she wondered what had happened to her out there. She knew her own extended field operation was coming up, and it made her slightly nervous. It wasn't as if she would ever fail it; she had far too much willpower. That wasn't vain or pretentious at all, it was a simple statement of fact that she knew to be true. It puzzled her sometimes, but she was aware of the indomitable drive that she possessed, something that kept her pushing onwards when all others had fallen by the wayside.

Something that kept her going, through everything that life threw at her.

Eventually, lost in her musings, she watched the bathroom door open. Steam wafted out into the room, bringing a semi-conscious, shuffling, nightgown-clad Weiss with it.

The white-haired girl made for her own bed without a second thought, but Ruby quickly sprang up and grabbed her arm. "Nah ah ah, you're sleeping in _my_ bed. Get over here you big _dolt_."

The fact that Weiss didn't even object to the insult attested to how drop-dead tired she was.

Ruby pulled her partner over to her bed and moved the covers aside. Without a moment of hesitation, Weiss flopped onto it. She didn't lay on it, she didn't slide onto it, she didn't even drop onto it.

She_ flopped_, like a dead merlin.

Ruby stood there for a few seconds, covering her mouth with her hand to contain the wild guffaws she was fighting. She took a deep breath to calm herself, then slid into bed beside her girlfriend.

The sheets were already warming to their collective body heat, and the covers were soft. She pulled Weiss closer, smiling when the smaller girl's body unconsciously pressed into her own. The white-haired girl pressed her face into Ruby's collar, and let out a long, drawn-out yawn.

"Ruby..."

"Yeah?" she whispered.

She felt Weiss' arms slide around and encircle her waist. "Thank you..."

"It's nothing Weiss. I love you." As if it was the simplest thing in the world. And maybe it was.

"I love..." another yawn. "You too..."

Ruby couldn't contain the bursting fireworks in her heart and the crazy fluttering in her chest, and so she let it out by humming the song her mother had taught her.

No matter what the future held in store for them, even if they were destined to end up apart... Right here, right now, they were _together_, and that made her throat tighten and her chest constrict.

She remembered what Weiss had told her once, about sleeping with someone. It hadn't seemed a big deal to Ruby, but to the heiress, it had meant so much more. If you were willing to sleep with someone, she had said, it meant you trusted them completely. After all, was there a time when you were more vulnerable than when you were asleep? If you slept beside someone, you trusted them with your life, and so much more.

And here Weiss was, asleep in her arms. The thought sent a warm thrill through her.

She ran her hands through her partner's hair in a rhythmic motion. It felt like silk, light and cool as it slipped through her fingertips.

And she felt Weiss' heart beat slower and slower, and felt her own slow to match it as their auras found eachother.

She hummed to herself, Weiss breathed slow and deep, and they both fell asleep in eachother's arms.

* * *

When Ruby finally awoke, she found herself alone. The first thing that struck her was how cold and empty the bed felt without Weiss in it. Painted stars glowed overhead, while outside the window the real ones were hidden by heavy sheets of grey-black clouds.

She sat up and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark, but saw no sign of the heiress when she gained her sight. Restlessly, she slid out of the bed and placed her feet on the carpeted floor. She flicked on the bedside lamp, checking to see if Weiss had left her a note or something else to indicate her whereabouts. She hadn't.

Her school uniforms and combat outfit were still in her closet, and she had left Myrtenaster behind as well. That meant she hadn't gone far, at least, or wasn't planning on being gone long.

Ruby sighed, slow and pensive. There was really only one place that Weiss would be at this late an hour. She slipped on a pair of sneakers and unfurled her red cloak, then clipped it into place around her neck.

The light of the moon seemed pale and forlorn as it pierced the clouds. They were beginning to clear, and hundreds of bright, shimmering pinpricks shone through the holes in the cloud cover. It was shaping up to be as beautiful and clear a night as you could ask for.

Ruby strode across the silent, empty grounds of Beacon Academy, to the tall oak tree on top of the hill overlooking the city of Vale.

And there she was. Weiss was sitting on the ancient stone bench underneath the tree, with nothing but a sweater jacket over her nightgown. She looked somehow small and diminished in the patches of moonlight that shone through the gaps in the leaves, and Ruby's heart throbbed at the sight.

Taking her time she walked up the hill, the grass rustling with her passage and the warm breeze that blew through the night, carrying the clouds with it. She thought that Weiss had to have heard her, but the head of white hair that belonged to her partner didn't turn in her direction. She sat down on the bench, and Weiss jerked her head towards her with a surprised expression. "Oh, Ruby!"

The brunette shifted closer, until their thighs were touching. She kept her voice low, as to not disturb the peaceful quiet of the night. "You know, I can't really remember the last time we kissed here. I mean, I remember it, but I can't remember what the kiss felt like at all. You really surprised me."

Weiss stared out at the horizon. "Yes, well... I don't really remember it either. I was only going to tell you how I felt, but then my eyes closed of their own accord and it just... happened."

Ruby grasped the older girl's chin, and turned her head so their eyes met. Weiss' blue orbs sparkled in the starlight: shimmering pools of ice water with tiny motes of light dancing through them.

Nearly overcome with longing for the girl next to her, Ruby pressed her lips against Weiss' with so much force that it nearly hurt. Without a moment of hesitation the heiress deepened the kiss, their tongues meeting and swirling around eachother as Ruby pressed forward, and Weiss leaned back. Their hands roamed, grasping at whatever they could find. Softly, Weiss moaned. Or were the moans hers? She couldn't tell anymore. She couldn't tell much of anything outside of the world of bliss that she was lost in; the world she was shared with Weiss.

Their auras felt like they were on fire, their hearts pounded and their pulses raced as the clouds drifted away, and the night sky opened up above them.

Several minutes were lost to the heated exchange, then slowly the kisses changed, becoming slower and more heartfelt, but just as passionate.

Eventually one of them broke apart; Ruby wasn't sure who. But she smiled and laughed, and pressed her forehead to Weiss', who laughed and smiled with her.

Ruby leaned forward, pressing her lips to her girlfriend's ear. "Will you remember that?"

Weiss' smile grew wider and her features softened. She shifted onto the brunette's lap and leaned up against her. "I think I will." she whispered.

They sat like that for a while, staring out at the bright city lights that seemed mirrored by the stars above. Off to their left the bay opened up to the sea, the water dark and listless. It seemed to absorb the light that fell into it. Further toward the north, their right, they could see the distant shades of mountains on the horizon, vast shadows standing like lonely sentinels guarding against the wilderness beyond.

Ruby eventually broke the silence. "Nervous about your parents?"

"How did you know?"

"People don't get up in the middle of the night when they're feeling fine," Ruby said with a giggle.

"Well I wouldn't have gotten up this late if I had been getting any sleep out there." She sighed. "Thank you for what you did this morning though. I _suppose_ I should expect that sort of thing by now, but it still surprised me. I half expected to have to fend you off when I got back, but instead you helped me take off my gear, washed my hair, and even pulled me into your bed, and _then_ slept with me. I kind of took up your entire day." It seemed to Ruby as if she purposely avoided the part where they were both naked in the same shower.

Ruby smiled. "Naw, my schedule somehow cleared up the second you got back. Pretty weird huh?"

Weiss pressed her face into the crook of the taller girl's neck. "Stop being so nice to me..." she mumbled.

"What? Why?"

"I don't know... I don't really mean that. I just... sometimes it feels like I don't deserve you, deserve everything you do for me. You scare me sometimes."

Ruby felt a stab of pain in her chest. "Wha... I scare you? How, what did I do?"

"No it's nothing like that," Weiss rushed to say. "I just... you're so _open_ with yourself, and your emotions. You just, put yourself out there, for everyone to see, and the way you love is so free and... what's the word I'm looking for. _Unconditional_, that's it. You love unconditionally, and that scares me sometimes, because I can't be like that. Maybe one day, but not yet. And sometimes it makes me feel like I don't deserve you, and that you'd be better off without me."

Ruby kissed the top of her girlfriend's head, pressing her lips to her smooth, silk-like hair. "I already told you Weiss, it's not about what we deserve. It's about what we want, and what we're willing to do to get it. I _want_ you. I _want_ to do all those nice things for you. I _love_ making you feel good; it makes me happier than anything to see you smiling and curled up against me."

Weiss huffed, but snuggled closer to Ruby at the same time. "Fine then, be that way. But one day, I'll have to repay you somehow. A Schnee doesn't let a debt go unpaid."

"Kiss me."

"What?"

"Just do it."

"O...okay." Hesitantly, Weiss leaned up, and pressed their lips together for a brief, yet passionate kiss.

When they broke away, Ruby smiled. "There. Debt paid."

"What? Wait, no you can't just-"

"Just did. Debt's paid. I'm the one who you owed it to, so I'm the one that says when it's paid or not. And _I_ say it's paid."

Weiss frowned.

"Oh come on, don't be like that. Remember how beautiful I said your smiles are? I wanna see one of those."

The frown remained, but it seemed forced now.

Ruby grinned, leaned down, and began nibbling Weiss' earlobe. A gasp escaped from the heiress' pale lips, and her frown soon disappeared. But there wasn't a smile in its place. _"At least, not yet," _Ruby thought.

She started whispering in Weiss' ear, explaining, in detail, _exactly_ why she loved her, how she wouldn't give her up for anything in the world, and how she made her feel.

And slowly, ever so slowly, a smile grew on Weiss' starlit face.

Ruby leaned back, her eyes gleaming as they met the heiress'. "That's better."

The corners of Weiss' mouth twitched as if she was trying to get rid of the smile, but it remained. "Curse you..." she muttered, then rested her head on Ruby's shoulder. The brunette brought her cloak up and wrapped it around them both, then leaned her own head against Weiss'. She couldn't stop smiling either.

They sat like that until the first rays of sunlight started to peek over the distant mountains; featureless grey masses shrouded in mist and cloud. As they did, they set the snow-covered peaks on golden, shimmering fire.

And then together they watched the sunrise.

* * *

A week later, when Ruby returned from her own extended field exercise as tired and bone-achingly weary as Weiss had been, she found the heiress waiting for her. With a bathtub filled with hot water and rose petals, a tray of warm cookies and a tall glass of milk, and a soft bed, the sheets still warm from the dryer. And once Ruby got in that bed with a huge, satisfied grin on her face, Weiss joined her and held her as she fell asleep.

* * *

**\- 2 months until summer break -**

Ruby turned and stood, brushing leaves and twigs off of her long-sleeved green shirt. She grimaced as she felt the dampness of her brown trousers; her makeshift team had been forced to wade through a stream earlier to get to their destination. And having wet socks, boots, and trousers was one of the worst things when you were in the field.

At least the sun was high overhead, and the day was clear without a cloud in the sky. But somehow, that warm light didn't penetrate into the forest itself. The tall, shadowed trees seemed to swallow the light, leaving the forest floor dark and treacherous. The only sound was of the wind sweeping through the valley below her, and a few birds, invisible as they were in the branches high above.

She unslung Crescent Rose and extended it into a sniper rifle. Sighting in, she took another look at the winding path through the valley. The road was old, and overgrown in many places. She was on a ridge-line overlooking it; the path led up to the ridge, then turned right. Her scope-sight passed over dark trees, shadowed glens, and, she fancied, a deer or two.

"Are you sure your friend is alright?"

She turned, startled, to see one of her two teammates for this mission. A black-haired, tall raven faunus stood several feet behind her with her head cocked to the side.

Ruby once again questioned the wisdom of taking hunters out of their comfort zones, by forcing them to go on extended missions with multiple hunters that weren't even on their team.

"Ruby? Are you well?"

"Yeah," she forced out. "Sorry Jaerla, you just startled me. And to be honest, I'm kinda worried about Ren too. He should be back by now."

The other girl joined her on the ridge-line, squatting down on the balls of her feet and resting her elbows on her knees. Ruby couldn't help but stare at the black feathers that lined the girl's outer forearms.

"The feathers, do they bother you?" Jaerla's voice was high-pitched and musical, almost sing-song. "Most people stare at them, such as you are doing."

Ruby blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "No, they don't bother me at all. Actually, I think they're pretty cool. I've just never seen anything like them before. Blake's got her cat ears, and Sun has his tail, but I've never seen a raven faunus, or a bird faunus at all now that I think about it."

"It is true: we are a rare breed." The faunus stared out along the path, her pale green eyes darting back and forth rapidly, as if they were dissecting the forest piece by piece.

Ruby took the opportunity to study the girl's face. Her features were thin and angular, even gaunt. The crown of her head was ridged with purple-black feathers, as well as the spaces behind her ears. And yet, she somehow managed to remain attractive, albeit in a mysterious, inscrutable way. Her eyes looked sad, even when she smiled.

Her gaze then wandered down, noting the girl's thin figure. She wore a black shirt with sleeves that ended at her elbows, and she remembered what Jaerla had said earlier about leaving her feathers uncovered. Something about them being free to feel the wind, that clothes stifled them. She wore dark pants with multiple pockets, and on her chest was a webbed rigging that held many pouches. Ruby could only guess as to what was in them. And finally, there was a large black quiver with two separate compartments on the faunus' back, as well as a slender black pole that Ruby assumed was her weapon.

"Do you study all your teammates so intensely Ruby Rose?"

"Wha-no, I mean, I was just... looking at your gear. Wondering why you need so many pouches. And stuff."

"For the most part, they hold various arrowheads. Along with other supplies. You never know what will be required of you, especially in an environment such as this, the field yes?"

"Um, yeah. You said arrowheads? Like, explosive or frost or something cool like that?"

The faunus cocked her head at Ruby. "Yes, I carry explosive arrowheads. And frost, and most other kinds of dust. Very useful in tights spots. You are a very curious girl Ruby Rose."

The brunette grinned, and returned to watching the road. "You could call me that. While we're on the subject of, uh, _you_, would you mind saying your last name again? Ms. Goodwitch said it once, but I didn't really catch it."

"Oddsdöttir."

"Odds... daughter?"

"Odds-dote-tir. It means, daughter of Odd."

"So... daughter of Odd... Your father's name was Odd?"

"It was, yes. You ask questions, many of them without aim or direction. Like an arrow loosed from a frayed drawstring."

"Oh... sorry."

The raven faunus smiled. "Do not be. Who knows where the arrow will land. Maybe in the heart of your mortal enemy, yes?"

Ruby smiled back. "Lucky shot then?"

"Luck, my friend, has nothing to do with anything."

"If you say so." She looked back out at the road. A chill wind blew over it, carrying dead leaves and dust. "Where are you Ren..." she whispered.

A howl split the air further down the path, followed by another, then another, and another.

"Beowolves," Ruby said. She felt her features harden, and anger swell in her breast. "Sounded like a pack, at least thirty, maybe more. And Ren went off that way."

"You wish to go in after him? We might share his fate, such as it is, if you choose that path."

"Anyone ever told you speak in riddles?"

The faunus grinned. "Yes."

Ruby chuckled. "No then, to answer your question. We'll give him a few minutes, and _then_ go after him. Ren can handle himself." She hefted Crescent Rose, sighting in down the path. "And actually, it sounds like he's bringing them to us..."

Jaerla leaned forward. "Ah. That is him?" She gestured towards a distant green figure on the road, seemingly moving in their direction.

"Yeap. Aaaand... yeap. He's got a pack of Beowolves on his ass."

The figure resolved itself into a black-haired man in a green tunic, sprinting full tilt down the road towards them. And, it should be mentioned, followed by a pack of ravenous black werewolf-like creatures, who ran on all fours and snapped at his heels.

The man waved his arms frantically in their direction.

"He wants help, yes?"

Ruby nodded, loaded a clip, and racked the bolt of Crescent Rose. Beside her, Jaerla pulled the black rod from her back, and it unfolded and extended into a jet-black compound bow with silver runes marking the sides, and wicked curved blades protruding from each end. She drew an arrow from her quiver and strung the bow in one smooth, quick motion.

"Do you want to fire first, or should I?" she asked.

"Are you serious? Ren's in trouble down there, and you're asking if-"

***TWANG***

The arrow flew like a bullet and pierced a beowolf through the chest with an audible **thwack**, and the beast went down and tumbled off the road. Ruby fired next, with a deafening crack that pitched another wolf into the dirt. They fired as quickly as possible, moving from one target to the next with quick, deadly efficiency. Some of the projectiles came within inches of Ren, but none failed to find their mark. Beowolves went down in ones and twos, their sprinting bodies falling in a tangle of limbs.

Ruby took the opportunity to use some of the different rounds that Weiss had given her for her birthday. She grinned at the effects of each one. The frost dust rounds turned a sprinting beowolf into a frozen statue that shattered when it hit the ground. A blaze dust round turned another into a living torch, that tumbled off the path and flailed around. The lightning from the shock dust round actually arced, turning three wolves into smoking, crackling tangles of limbs.

Even using her semblance to switch clips faster than the eye could follow, she couldn't use all of them in time. And even if she could, why use EMP rounds on a creature of flesh and blood? But she did use the HEDP rounds too, (high explosive dual purpose), and they actually did explode. Messily.

There were only a dozen wolves left, and she switched to the last, and possibly most interesting type of ammunition that Weiss had given her. The sonic rounds, the emitted a piercing sound high above the hearing range of a human. The ones that apparently made them go crazy.

She sighted in on one of the wolves at the front of the group chasing Ren, and fired. Crescent Rose kicked hard into her shoulder. She didn't actually see the round hit, but something strange happened. The Beowulf the round struck... well, went insane. It seemed to lose control of its limbs, and for a second it actually flopped around like a fish out of water. Then, it actually _turned_, and _tackled_ one of the wolves running past it. Ruby watched in amazement as the two beowolves rolled around in the dirt, tearing eachother apart with claw and fang. She was so intrigued that she almost forgot about the rest of them.

Shaking her head, she resolved to think about it later, and sighted back in.

Soon enough there was only one Beowolf left. Ren skidded through the dirt, turned a spin into a back-flip, and landed facing the last creature. He pulled his two automatic pistols, Stormflower, and dumped the entirety of both clips into the wolf as it sprinted past him. It dropped like a sack of flour. A sack of flour riddled with bullet holes.

Ruby found herself wondering, as she often did, which pistol was Storm, and which one was Flower.

He lowered his arms to his side and stood there, panting heavily in the dust thrown up by the running battle.

On the ridge, Ruby ejected the round in Crescent Rose's chamber and pocketed it, then retracted the weapon. Jaerla did the same with her bow.

"That thing's really cool," Ruby said. "Is it uh... is it just a bow? Or does it turn into a sword or something?"

"It does indeed, turn into a 'sword or something,' " she laughed. Unfolding the bow again, she pulled it apart at the center, and the weapon split and reformed until she was holding a single-headed axe in each hand. The axe-heads curved downwards, and they were marked with those same silver runes: combinations of sharp lines and swirling patterns. The only symbol that Ruby could identify was a raven in flight that was mirrored on each axe; the axe tips were their beaks. The weapons were connected at the hilt by what used to be the bowstring.

"Wow..." Ruby breathed. "So are those like, war axe-nunchucks?"

The faunus looked down at the weapons in her hands, considering and contemplating them. "Yes. We'll go with that."

"What's it's name?" Ruby asked. To her, this was one of the most interesting things about a person. She loved hearing what people decided to name their weapons, and the reasoning behind it.

"_Flammifer_," the other girl said with relish and awe in her tone. "But both axes have names too. Huginn and Muninn: the twin ravens.

"Ooh, that's pretty cool. So Flammifer? What does that mean?"

The faunus looked down the ridge, to where Ren was steadily climbing towards them through the undergrowth. "You do not know the legend of Flammifer?"

"Um... no? Should I have?"

The raven faunus cocked her head at Ruby and squinted for a moment. "No, you should not have. Few know the tales of the ancient days, yes? And fewer still remember them as they were. Suffice it to say he was a man of the distant past, one who explored many lands far and wide, including the borders of all four kingdoms; and even beyond. One day, long ago he set off in a great ship to sail the great black oceans of the north, and find what lies beyond them. He never returned. My people honor him with song and verse."

"Wow," Ruby breathed. "That's uh, really cool. I've never even heard of him. You'll have to tell me more someday."

Jaerla simply nodded in reply.

With a grunt, Ren pulled himself up onto the ridge. He walked over to them and knelt down, still panting. "You know you guys... could have... killed me, right?"

Ruby grinned and patted him on the back. "Nah, we're both _way_ too good shots for that. You were perfectly fine the whole time."

"You are injured?" asked Jaerla.

"Huh? Oh, no I'm fine." He stood up straight, took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. "That's just the farthest, and fastest I've had to run in a long while. And I normally have Nora chasing me, not a pack of Beowolves."

"Wait, why does Nora chase you?" Ruby asked with a laugh.

"You'd have to ask her." He shrugged, then looked down at the ground. "You know, I thought it would be nice to get away from her for a while, get a little break. But now that we've been out here for a few days, I actually... miss her."

Ruby shot him a sad smile; she knew the feeling all too well. "I know how you feel. I miss Weiss too."

"Yeah, but you two are actually dating." He froze when he realized what he had just said.

Ruby's hand rushed to cover her mouth. "Ohmygosh, you know?"

"Uh... yeah. Sorry about that. It was supposed to be a secret. That we knew your secret."

Ruby felt the blood drain from her face. "Wait, **we**?! Who else knows!?"

He sighed, then held up a hand and began counting off fingers. "Me, Nora, Pyrrha, Jaune, Neptune, Sun, and Penny. Oh, and now Jaerla."

All of Ruby's energy left her, and she slumped backwards against a nearby tree. What would happen now? Would Weiss' parents find out? If that many people knew the secret, then there were undoubtedly more out there that Ren didn't know about.

"Crap..." she whispered.

He held out his hands to placate her. "It's not as bad as you think. We're the only ones that know, and _we_ only know because we've been your friends for the past two years."

"Yeah... but if all of you know, then there are probably more that you _don't_ know about. I mean... I can't let people find out Ren. I can't."

He nodded. "This is about her parents, right?"

"You know about that too?"

"Everyone knows about that Ruby. Or at least the rumors. She's the heiress of Schnee Dust. She's going to get more scrutiny than others. To your credit though, you two hide it very well. When you're around us, we can't tell that you two aren't just good friends."

A spark of hope flared up. "Really?"

"Yeap. In fact, the only reason all of us know is because of Sun. Well, Sun, and because Sun told Nora when they were drinking together. And Nora couldn't keep her mouth shut to save the world."

Ruby chuckled. "Heh, that's true if I've ever... wait, Sun? How did _Sun_ find out?"

Ren folded his arms across his chest. "According to him, he was... borrowing, the key to the cafeteria kitchen for a late-night snack, and he walked in on you two."

Ruby felt blood rush to her face, as she remembered the events of that night. "Oh... oh. What uh... what did he see?"

Ren shrugged. "Well, he saw you two kiss, apparently. He left right after that."

"That's really creepy actually." She shuddered at the thought of someone watching her with her girlfriend. She resolved to have a 'talk' with Sun later. Then another thought occured to her. "Oh man, now I'll have to tell Weiss... She is going to _freak_."

Jaerla cleared her throat, startling both of them. They had almost forgotten she was there: she had blended with the shadows. "I'm sorry, I don't follow. What is so bad about you and your partner being discovered together? I have never talked to Weiss Schnee except in passing."

Ruby sighed. "It's a long story Jaerla. Basically, if her parents find out about us, they'll take her out of Beacon. And then, I'll probably never see her again." She felt a thrill of fear as she spoke that last sentence, along with her firm resolve rising up to meet it. That _wouldn't_ happen.

Jaerla cocked her head at her, then emitted a strange hum that Ruby took to be an acknowledgement.

"Well then," Ren interjected. "If we're done here, that's a _lot_ of dead Grimm on the road, and they're only going to attract more. So how about we set up camp somewhere far from here? Sound like a good idea?"

Both girls nodded, and began gathering their gear. That finished, they all shouldered their packs and hiked south, leaving the bodies of roughly two dozen Grimm bleeding out onto the bloody, dusty road.

* * *

The fire crackled and sparked, sending bright streamers of light into the night air like escaping fireflies. The evening had started off clear and cool, but as night descended, the shadows deepened and seemed to grow, shrouding the forest floor in gloom. Tendrils of mist snaked through the undergrowth, and the trees themselves seemed to become enemies: their shadows morphed and twisted until they appeared as threatening figures in the deep dark.

Ominously, a blanket of dark clouds creeped across the sky, and the night found itself bereft of light of star or moon. The air grew heavy with the shadow of a threat.

Ruby and Ren had originally been against lighting a fire, seeing as how it would attract more Beowolves. But Jaerla knew the forest better than they did, and she had told them_ 'there are darker things than Grimm that stalk, and hunt, in the dead of night. And fire-light will stay them off more than anything else.'_

So, taking her advice, they had lit a fair-sized fire, and now sat in a loose circle around it on dead logs and the moss-covered stumps of long-fallen trees.

"So does anyone know what this forest is even called?" Ruby asked. She gathered her cloak tighter around herself to ward off the encroaching chill.

"It is called Orfalas. And it is old and vast," Jaerla answered. "The trees whisper to eachother, talking back and forth in the night. Can you hear them?"

Now that she paid attention, she realized she could actually hear more than just the chill breeze slipping through the trees. The branches of the forest groaned and creaked, even during lulls in the wind.

"Is it that... groaning noise they're making? Isn't that just old wood shifting and stuff?"

"To some, yes. But there is much more beneath the surface of what you see and hear in this place. The elder places of the world still have many secrets to tell, if you know how to listen."

Ren leaned forward into the fire-light. "Where did you learn all this Jaerla? All this old lore?"

"My people still remember the legends of old. We wander places like these, through dusk and dark, and have learned them and the hidden paths through them. We still follow the old ways."

"Who are your people? If you don't mind me asking," Ruby said.

"Wandering tribes of faunus called Eluvǐtae. You have heard of us? We stay far from your civilizations and keep to ourselves."

"I've actually heard that name before," Ren answered, "but that was a long time ago. So then why are you here, in our 'civilization?' " Looking around at the woods he was in, he added: "Okay, maybe not right now. But you know what I mean." Ruby chuckled.

"I chose to attend your Beacon to learn how to better kill the Grimm. And take that knowledge back to my people once my time with you is complete." The light of the fire gave her purple-black feathers a lustrous sheen. "But I will say that I have had a much better time of it than I had expected. Your ways are interesting, and I have learned much. The Eluvǐtae are distrustful of what they see as the outside world, yes?" She nodded, as if to herself more than anyone else. "I will try to change that."

Ruby nodded. "That makes sense. That's pretty cool, what you're trying to do."

"I think so too," Jaerla agreed. But her eyes had appeared to lock onto something on Ruby's waist. "Ruby, what is that cross on your belt?"

The brunette unpinned the silver cross from her belt and held it up. "What, this? Just something given to me by my mother. Well, the last thing she gave me really." Sad thoughts accompanied her words, but she rejected them and pushed them away. "Why do you ask?"

"I recognize it. Although I haven't seen one for a long... time."

That piqued Ruby's curiosity. "What is it?"

"Just a dead symbol of a dead god. Do not concern yourself with it."

The faunus apparently had dismissed the subject, as she didn't say anything more, and simply stared into the fire. But the glint in her eyes told Ruby that there was a lot more that she wasn't telling. She resolved to ask her more about it at a later time. When they weren't in a Grimm-infested, apparently sentient forest for one.

They sat in reflective silence for a time, although Ruby was watching the shadows at the edge of the ring of light at the same time. Glancing at Jaerla, she could see the attentive faunus doing the same. Somehow the night grew darker, and it felt like a stygian blackness was pressing in on them, constricting them.

She could feel them. Shadows in the deeper dark, creeping ever closer to the protective ring of fire-light. Making as little movement as possible, she picked up Crescent Rose from where it lay and placing it on her lap, giving Ren a pointed look at the same time. Judging from his hardened stare, he got the hint.

"Do you know how old the Grimm are?" Jaerla asked. She had returned to staring into the fire.

"Not really," Ruby said with a shrug. "I don't think anyone does. They've just always been there, hunting us as far back as we can remember."

"Oh, they are older than us Ruby. They have simply taken on their present form as a... response, to our coming into this world. Older than us, yes. Far older." Her eyes glinted in the fire-light. She whispered: "Protect the fire. Do not let them put it out, or it will be our end."

In a flash, she stood and turned, drawing Flammifer and loosing an arrow that whizzed into the deep black of the night. There was a muffled thwack and a squeal of pain, followed by enraged howls that split the night air.

The darkness itself seemed to birth the beowolves, as they came charging in twos and threes into the firelight. The light flashed in their crimson eyes and gleamed off of their wicked claws, and their fanged mouths bled drool as they howled.

Ruby deployed Crescent Rose, rushed to meet the first group of wolves, and ended them all in a single wide, sweeping slash. Ren leapt into the branches above and crouched there, releasing a hail of bullets into the darkness.

More and more wolves appeared, and it seemed to Ruby as if they were concentrated their attack on her, and she was forced to spin Crescent Rose defensively around her just to hold them off. Any Beowolf that rushed at her was reduced in seconds to a bloody tangle of rent limbs and severed bones.

"Ruby! The fire!" Jaerla cried out.

Risking a turn of her head, she could see several Beowolves sprinting towards the fire, in a clear attempt to smother it. If that happened, they were dead. They couldn't fight in the dark, not against this many wolves. Snarling, she used her semblance to flash away towards the fire, and ended up almost back-to-back with Jaerla, who was holding her twin axes low and at the ready.

"The ravens thirst for blood, beast!" Jaerla shouted. The first Beowolf threw itself at the faunus, and she sidestepped it and buried an axe-head in its spine. Spinning around a second one, she repeated the action. More wolves came, and the firelight flashed off of the runes on her weapons as she spun and danced around their attacks, her own landing with deadly force.

Ruby jerked her eyes away from the faunus just in time to duck under a wolf that hurtled over her, and she absently brought the edge of Crescent Rose up slightly so that the beast simply impaled itself on the scythe-blade.

She grinned, shucked the beast off, and spun to face yet more of the snarling creatures. Several of them dropped to the ground, tumbling into the undergrowth as they rushed forward and were met with a hail of fire from Ren, who was still unseen in the treetops.

Ruby met the ones that remained, ending each howling scream with a lighting-fast slash with her scythe and a burst of rage and savage joy. She _loved_ killing Beowolves. She lost herself in the rush of battle, in the crazy shadows that painted themselves on the surrounding trees as she fought, in the blood that shone on her blade in the fire-light, in the thrill she felt in her bones each time she ended the life of another murderous creature of darkness.

She spun, using her momentum to drive her scythe into the body of yet another Grimm, and as it fell with a muffled squeal, silence fell with it.

She panted, resting her blade on the ground and leaning against it as she took stock of her surroundings as if for the first time. She disliked it: the coming down from the high of battle. She felt spent and exhausted as the adrenaline left her bloodstream, and her body ached as it felt afresh the bruises and cuts she had received during the fight.

Bodies were strewn about the clearing, no more than fifty but no less than thirty, she estimated. Blood was spattered on the trees and undergrowth around them, and the quiet that replaced the ear-shattering sounds of combat seemed eerie and out of place. The smell of gunpowder swirled in the air, discharge from when she had fired Crescent Rose into the press of bodies around her.

Ren dropped from the trees, and when his absent weight shifted the branches above, the bodies of several Beowolves dropped with him. He shrugged. "Whoops. Forgot about them."

Jaerla wiped her axes on some loose ferns, attempting to clean the blood off of them. "That will be all for tonight, I think. They will not consider us such easy prey."

"They?" Ruby asked. "We didn't get them all?"

The faunus stared out into the blackness beyond the ring of light cast by the still-flickering fire. "I can see them: the remnants of the pack. But they have been cowed. They will watch us, but make no move against us. Safe for the night. That is what we are."

Ren ejected the spent clips of his twin guns, then slung them on his hip-holsters. "Seems like a waste of ammo to me. I mean, these things never would have found us if we hadn't made this fire."

Jaerla's reply was low, a whisper in the dark. "Think not of what we attracted with the light. But instead think of what we _kept away_."

Ruby grimaced and rested her scythe on her shoulder. Staring out into the black, shifting shadows beyond the fire-light, she remembered Jaerla's words from before. _'There are darker things than Grimm that stalk, and hunt, in the dead of night.'_

And she wondered what could be worse than Grimm.

And as she wrapped her cloak tight around her shoulders, as her body cooled off and the chill of night returned, she found herself missing her partner. She longed to see the heiress smile again, to hear her voice and feel her skin upon her own. Absently, she pulled a locket and its silver chain from under her shirt, where she wore it as a necklace. She opened it and stared at the pictures held inside. The left side held a picture of Weiss with her hands clasped before her, while the right held a picture of the two of them holding eachothers hands and smiling. The flickering fire-light drew her gaze away, and the bodies of the Grimm stuck out at her like burned, black patches on an otherwise flawless green blanket.

She wondered what Weiss would think of all this.

"We should move camp," Ren said, breaking her out of her reverie. She closed the locket and slid it back under her shirt.

"No," Jaerla replied. "We keep this fire up. There is no safer place than here tonight, surrounded by the bodies of Grimm to serve as a warning to others of their kind."

"Well... can we at least move them so we can have a place to sit?"

Jaerla smirked and cocked her head at him. "If you wish to do so, you may. I am fine standing. The tree that stands upright has deeper roots than one set askew by circumstance. And deep roots are not reached by the frost."

Ren frowned. "Has anyone ever told you you speak in riddles?"

The faunus grinned, and her white teeth glinted in the light of the fire.

* * *

_**Aaaand I'm back. Hope you enjoy this after the wait, I have another one that should be out in a few days or so.**_

_**First of all, I feel like I should clear some things up. I have 100% completely departed from the canon AS OF SEASON 2. I write based on everything we know/ found out in season 1. I don't watch season 2, I probably won't ever. **_

_**Man, nothing like guest reviews where I can't issue a rebuttal or clarify a question unless I put it in the authors notes. Please, if you're going to take the time to write a review, make a quick account so I can actually message you back. I message every single review back, no matter what, already.**_

_**The story departs from canon in a few other ways too. Yes, I'm aware that Ruby has a white rose emblem on her belt now. But it was a silver cross in the Red trailer, and I like that much better, and it's a huge tool I'm going to use in later sequels to this story. Qrow is still around in canon. I don't know if that was established in an episode of season 2 that I missed, but whatever. As for Cinder being defeated in a year, I just wanted to wrap that up quick. Because Cinder is not a main villain, nor is Torchwick. They're cliched, overused stereotypical super-villains with a boring, run of the mill, "take over the world" plan. They have no place in an original story. They dry it up and make it dull. **_

_**Ruby and Weiss do not "love eachother more than anyone in history ever." I never said that. But their love is particularly strong, mostly due to them being partners and spending every day with eachother for almost three years beforehand. **_

_**Ruby and Yang are better than everyone else in their class year because that's what main characters do. They get powerful and rise above everyone else. Neo from The Matrix, Goku from DBZ, Harry Potter from the book series/ film of the same name. Every main character from every anime ever. It's not exactly a new concept. Would you want to read a story about a random character in RWBY who just performs average, then goes on to run a Dust store or something? Main characters get more powerful for a reason. It makes things interesting.**_

_**Anyway, got that out of my system. Sorry for the long authors note. I'm gonna try this new thing in the next few chapters where I don't even include one at all, just let the story speak for itself without my somewhat abrasive personality getting in the way. This is also my first time ever writing an original character *shudder*, so I'd appreciate any feedback.  
**_

_**Please review, as always, I respond to every single one. Have a good night!**_


	11. Chapter 9 - Dreaming

_**This is my deepest dream**_  
_** This is how I show you my love**_

_**This is it speaking to me**_  
_** This is me speaking to you**_

_**My heart hurts and my heart breaks**_  
_** No one belongs here**_  
_** Not here where we leave our hearts**_  
_** The illusion for your weakened love**_

_** This is not what we were made for**_  
_** Far from the compassion we have known**_  
_** Far from the love that we have shown**_

_**My heart tells me that love will endure all things**_

_**This is my deepest dream**_  
_** This is how I show you my love**_  
_** So Beloved, let us love one another**_

* * *

**\- 1 month until summer break - **

It had been roughly a week since Ruby's fire-lit battle with the Grimm when Yang cornered Weiss in the hallway leading to their respective rooms. The heiress was returning from classes, and it was a Friday, the first one of the month, which meant team night. Yang had been waiting for her, arms crossed, leaning up against the wall.

"Hey Princess."

"Oh great. _You_ look like you have something to say."

"If you'll stop walking and give me just a minute, then yeah."

Weiss huffed, but stopped and spun around so that she was facing the blonde, her ponytail whipping through the air as she did so.

Yang grinned. "Thanks for your time. So, I just really have one question. You've been dating Ruby for what, six months now? This _is_ your half-year anniversary, right?"

Weiss shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "That dunce just can't keep her mouth shut. But yes. It is. Now can I go?"

"Ah ah ah, that wasn't the question. Got somewhere to be?"

"Yes, actually. I have to get dressed and ready for tonight. Ruby_ did_ tell you we're going to the orchestra right? Since it's my turn to pick."

Yang shrugged. "Yeah, she told me."

"Then why don't _you_ go get ready? Yang Xiao Long, an opera is a civilized affair. I will not have you showing up like a... like a half-dressed street hooker."

"Ooh, you wound me. But I would go put on my stripper make-up and hooker clothes, if you would just let me ask my question."

"Well just ask it then!"

"Why haven't you dumped Ruby yet?"

Weiss was so taken aback that her anger fled, leaving only confusion in it's wake. "Wait, what?"

"I asked why you haven't dumped Ruby yet." She kept a straight face, as if she were asking what shoe size Weiss wore.

"Why... why would I break up with Ruby?"

"Ding ding! Ladies and gentlemen, she's figured out my question, and after only two tries!"

Weiss was still too confused to be aggravated by the blatant jab. "No, I mean... do you want me to break up with her? Is that what this is?" _Now_ she was getting angry, and she could feel her brow furrow.

"Weiss, I would ask you if you're stupid, but I know you aren't. It's a very simple question."

"Simple? How is it simple?" Her shrill voice rose with her anger. "Where are you going with this?"

Yang only laughed in response to the heiress' obvious anger. "Oh my dust. Weiss. Why are you still with Ruby after six months? Why haven't you just dumped her yet, and moved on to some other chump dumb enough to believe that you actually like them? Like a rich asshole like you should've done long ago?"

Now Weiss was furious. "Because I love her!" she practically yelled. Her voice rebounded down the empty hallway.

Yang smiled, leaned forward, and patted her on the shoulder, and Weiss froze. "That's all I wanted to hear. I'm gonna go get ready for your opera now."

As Weiss stared in disbelief, Yang turned and strode down the hallway with her usual hip-swinging gait. As she neared the corner where the hallway turned left, she looked back at Weiss over her shoulder. "Just remember, you break Ruby's heart, and I break you."

Then she promptly turned the corner and disappeared.

Weiss slumped back against the wall and tried to make sense of what had just happened. Was that Yang's version of a blessing? Or was it a warning?

Distantly, she realized that the small indent that Yang had been leaning on was where Ruby had run head-first into the wall a few weeks ago. She couldn't remember why it had happened, and she wrote it off as a just another doltish Ruby 'accident'. The brunette had acted like it hadn't hurt at all. Weiss thought otherwise.

And then, the blonde's unmistakable, husky voice echoed back down the hallway. "And don't have sex with my sister unless she comes on to you first!"

Weiss turned and slammed her head into the wall. And yes, it hurt.

* * *

"Ruby!" Weiss called, her voice echoing out from the fogged-up glass doors of the shower. "You'd better not be thinking of wearing anything _casual_ tonight!"

"Oh come on!" the returning cry came from their room. "I already had my hoodie on and everything!"

A heavy sigh escaped from the heiress' lips, and she pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. Ruby never seemed to learn anything about high society. "Ruby, this is an orchestra house, not a movie theatre. There is absolutely _no_ way that I'm letting you dress like a street rat tonight. This is _my _team night, and we're going to see an actual work of art. Something that took years to write, and months of preparation and planning. I will not have you show up in anything less than your best. You _are_ wearing that dress I picked out for you, and that's _final_."

There was a pause, and with growing aggravation, she wondered if Ruby was even listening to her.

Then: "Are you done with your speech yet?"

"Ruby, when I get out of this shower, I am going to_ strangle_ you, and then put that dress on your cold, dead body!"

Ruby's laugh echoed from the tiled bathroom walls. "Yeah, but then you'd have to undress me first!"

"I... well I..."

"Ohmygosh you are _too_ cute! Fine, I'll wear the dress! Don't get your panties in a bunch!"

Weiss slammed her head into the wall of the shower with a heavy thud. It hurt. She needed to stop doing that. Suddenly, the hot water running down her back wasn't helping her mood anymore.

"Of _all_ the insufferable people I've ever met in this short life," she growled through clenched teeth, "why did I have to fall in love with her?"

"I don't know," Ruby's voice came from behind her, making her jump, "you're the one who went gay for me."

Weiss' answering screech followed her as she bolted, laughing, from the bathroom.

* * *

"Forgive me yet?" A kiss to her cheek.

Weiss clenched her teeth as she sat facing the mirror, struggling to pin her earrings on: long silver bars that shined in the lamp-light.

"Oh come on? Please?" A kiss to the back of her neck.

She felt Ruby's arms snake around her waist, and she cursed her body's instinctive reaction as she leaned backwards into the embrace.

"I promise I'll behave at the orchestra?" A kiss to her bare back, a spot left open by her back-less, shimmering silver gown. _That_ one made her shudder.

Weiss sighed. "Fine, fine, I forgive you. Happy?"

Ruby leaned in front of her and pressed a short kiss to her lips this time. When she pulled back her silver eyes sparkled, matching the smile on her face. "Yeap. As long as you're happy."

Weiss couldn't contain a smile of her own. "Yes, I am happy. And if you behave at the orchestra, I'll be even happier. _If _you're good, when we get back, we can make some popcorn and watch a movie on my scroll."

"Ooh, that sounds great. What are we gonna watch?"

"We'll figure something out." Weiss finally pinning her earrings on, and turned around. "Now let me see you."

Ruby grinned and stepped back, doing a quick little twirl in her red cocktail dress. The hem fell to just below her knees, and the neckline was modest by any standard, but still seemed like it struggled to contain her ever-growing bust. The sleeves ended at her shoulders, and were ruffled. The silky crimson material clung to her womanly figure in all the right places, and Weiss felt her pulse quicken.

Ruby's hair was up in a tight ponytail with a crimson tip, and there was a red rose set just above her brow.

"Wow..." was the only word she could find. Ruby looked absolutely gorgeous.

The brunette clasped her hands in front of her and swayed back and forth with a nervous look in her eyes. "So... good wow or bad wow?"

"Good! Good, like... Ruby you look..." she searched for the word she needed to fully articulate just how heart-stoppingly beautiful her partner looked, but all she could come up with was: "You look hot."

Ruby blushed and giggled at the same time, and Weiss smacked her palm into her face as she realized what she had said. "Urgh. Not hot. Pretty, gorgeous, breath-taking, all those," she mumbled into her palm.

Ruby chuckled and lowered herself onto the heiress' lap. "Don't worry Weiss, I get the idea. You know, you don't look half-bad yourself."

Not half-bad? Not half-bad?! This dress was a _Tarence Zimmerman_, extravagantly priced, and well worth every cent. The priceless silver material shimmered in both sunlight and starlight, and while it _was_ loose around the shoulders and the legs, it didn't obscure her, as Ruby would put it, 'deliciously thin' waistline. And as a final touch it was backless, and would leave the smooth, pale skin of her back exposed to the cool night air. Or at the present, Ruby's hands. She was even wearing her hair down. She almost_ never _wore her hair down in public.

She glared at her partner. "I don't look half-bad? Are you serious? After all the time I spent with this make-up, and picking out this dress and..." she trailed off as she saw the twinkling in Ruby's eyes: an unmistakable glint of humor.

"I'm only kidding," Ruby whispered. "It's just a lot easier to say that than 'you look so beautiful it makes my chest hurt.' "

"Oh. Well I... oh."

* * *

The orchestra hall, a massive, oval shaped building, was down by the docks, on a large pier that stretched out onto the open water. The lights of the opera house glittered on the dark ocean as they approached, and the night air was cool on their exposed skin.

Once inside, Ruby stared around, in awe of her surroundings. The interior of the hall itself was a cavernous space, a vast open room with a gently sloping ceiling that fell down towards the massive stage at one end of the room. The rows and aisles of seats were arranged around the stage like a crescent moon.

Up above, the ceiling stretched up until it was lost in shadow. A latticework of thick wooden beams stretched across ceiling halfway up in a checkered pattern, serving as a mounting point for various speakers and spotlights. The entire hall was lit by clusters of golden lights that were concealed behind sheaths of wood, so that while the space was comfortably, if sparsely lit, the actual source of the light could not be seen. It gave the whole place a shadowy, yet somehow familiar feel.

The stage itself was well-lit, and the floor of it was made out of some kind of tan wood. It was wide, easily capable of accommodating an orchestra of a hundred people or more. The stage only reached about a fourth of the way to the ceiling however; the rest of the wall facing the open water was one gigantic glass window. The moon shone through it, making the whole place seem somehow surreal.

That's how it felt to Ruby at least, as she walked down a crowded aisle, following behind the rest of her team. Yang had decided to wear a strapless, ruffled lilac dress that only barely came to her knees. And of course, the cut was low enough to highlight her assets. This was Yang, after all. The rest of the team had left their weapons behind in a guarded holding area, but the blonde wore her gauntlets, in their retracted state, on her wrists. They looked like nothing more than gaudy, oversized bracelets. Her eyes matched her dress, and her hair matched her gauntlets. She drew stares and hungry glances, but they didn't worry Blake. Hell, if anyone was admiring how Yang looked that night, it was her faunus girlfriend. The two walked arm in arm, and the blonde's golden high heels, along with Ruby's and Weiss', clacked on the plastic-tiled floor.

The more literary-inclined member of the team probably drew the least amount of attention to herself, but only because black is outshone by other, brighter colors of the visual spectrum, such as red and yellow. Black doesn't tend to draw the eye. Nevertheless, it wasn't as if she wasn't beautiful in her own right. Her raven-black hair was curled and hung down to her waist, her feline ears proudly uncovered atop her head. Although instead of a dress, she wore a tuxedo. A black and grey affair of tailored silk, the coat hung down to her upper thighs much like a Zoot suit, and her coat-tails hung even lower than that. Shiny dress shoes and a smart black bowtie completed a look that blended sophistication and class.

Together, Team RWBY maneuvered around groups of well-dressed patrons that were either engaged in lively discussion, or just trying to find their seats. A few people openly stared at Blake's exposed faunus ears, but Yang met each prejudiced gaze with a furious glare, and the targets of her wrath seemed to wither and shrink under it.

Excited conversation echoed throughout the vast orchestra hall, mixing with the discordant sounds of the symphony sound-testing their various instruments. Horns blared, ,violins squealed, guitars strummed, clarinets sounded, and drums beat in time as each member of the huge group of musicians made sure their particular artifice of sound was up to par.

They found their seats and took them, Ruby on the far left, followed by Weiss, then Blake, then Yang, but only a minute passed before the older couple excused themselves to go find refreshments. Yang colorfully declaring that the only way she would make it through the whole affair was if she was 'smashed'. Blake went along to make sure she didn't get anything too strong.

Ruby shifted in her seat to find a comfortable position, which was actually quite easy considering the chairs were large, cushioned affairs with a good amount of leg room. Something which the ever-growing brunette found to be scarce these days.

Releasing a satisfied sigh, she sank back into the seat. "Um, Weiss?"

The heiress looked up from the program she had picked up at the door. "Yes?"

"What was this play called again?"

"It's an orchestra Ruby, and it's a piece written by Tayorn Malorkai. Eloquently titled: _Understanding What We've Grown to Be_. It has..." she looked down at the program, "three acts. _Repression_, _Denial_, and _Acceptance_.

"Sounds _super_ interesting," Ruby said with a completely straight face.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at her, trying to discern whether or not the brunette was being sarcastic. They stared at eachother, but Ruby began to show signs of breaking. She pursed her lips, and she began to tremble slightly.

Weiss' eyebrow twitched, and the brunette lost. She burst out laughing, bending over and clutching her sides. People around her stared.

"No cookies for a month."

Ruby stopped laughing instantly. "What! No! You can't!"

"Quiet, it's about to start."

As she spoke, the last few groups of people were taking their seats, and Yang and Blake, laden with drinks, dropped into their seats next to them just as the lights began to dim. Ruby, crestfallen, slouched over in the darkness.

A loaded silence fell with the warm darkness, a hushed expectance of the opening act. Blake passed Weiss two glasses of champagne, and the heiress passed one further on to Ruby, who accepted it with a gracious 'thank you.'

Weiss heard her partner take a sip. "Ooh wow this is good."

"Hush dolt."

Next to her, she could see Ruby slide down into her seat like a kicked puppy.

And then it began.

* * *

A lone flute sounded in the darkness, clear and piercing; almost cold. After a few chilling seconds, it was joined by a single clarinet. In contrast it was low and muted, and for an instant the two sounds were discordant, jarring like nails on a chalkboard. But then the twin sounds mixed and became one, joining eachother in perfect harmony, and Weiss felt her spirits soar as a trumpet joined the ensemble, adding it's own distinctive brand of ringing majesty. Then a french horn joined in, then a trombone, then a tuba and then a bass clarinet.

A few seconds passed with all the wind instruments blending together in a ringing clarion call, and then the strings joined in. Violins and cellos, viola's and double bass'.

Then finally they all joined together, and instruments of all kinds united a single uplifting note of grand majesty that seemed to shake the hall. The lights went up with the music, and Weiss felt a smile grow on her face. As a child, one of the few things she remembered actually enjoying was when her parents took her to the opera, orchestra, or ballet. She felt truly alive when she watched such beautiful endeavors of hard work and time come together, a feeling that was rare in those days. Before Beacon. Before Ruby.

As the grand opening note faded and the first act began, she glanced surreptitiously around to see how her teammates were faring.

Ruby actually looked interested. She was leaning forward, and there was a wry grin on her face that was mirrored in her twinkling silver eyes. It made her glad that Ruby, at least, was having a good time. They had never had all that much in common, her and her partner, but it was an encouraging thought that Ruby might come to enjoy the finer things in life. She'd just have to ease her in to them, she decided.

Looking to her right, she wasn't surprised. Blake looked interested, but detached. Yang looked like she'd rather be watching paint dry. Her glass of champagne was already gone. And she was eying Blake's.

The first act came and went, as most opening acts do. True to its title: _Repression_, it was, for the most part, muted and repressed. But as the act drew to its close, the instruments seemed to be battling with eachother, like two different ideas in your head, both vying to be heard and fully realized. But just as the music came to a crescendo, like the final moment before the start of a great battle... it died. The lights faded, and signaled the end of the first movement. Hushed whispers echoed through the massive space, following in the wake of the light. It left the audience unsatisfied and wanting more. But that was good, Weiss knew. After all, it was only the first act, and its job was to set the stage for the later movements.

The lights went up, and they revealed a great velvet curtain which had fallen over the stage. The whispering was replaced with a rolling applause, the sound of thousands of hands all clapping together. Everyone joined in, even Yang.

After it died, people got up and started to move about, stretching their legs and heading to relieve themselves or get food and drink. Yang, who already had a glazed look to her eyes, went off to get even more champagne. Blake followed her with a sigh.

"Hey Ruby, you want something?" Yang called back.

"Uh, water?"

"Kay. Weiss?"

"Nothing, thank you," the heiress replied, then turned to her partner. "So, what do you think?"

"I actually really like it," Ruby answered. "I didn't think I would, ya know at first, but it's actually really cool. There's something about the music I guess. It just makes you _feel_ things. Like..." She frowned, clearly trying to find the words she needed. "Like emotion in musical form? I don't know if that makes sense. And you can really tell that everyone playing put a ton of work into this. So yeah, it's awesome."

Weiss smiled at her. "That's the way I feel about it too. It's uplifting and inspiring: music on a scale this large. So many things coming together as one, harmonious whole. I'm really glad you're enjoying this."

Ruby smiled back. "I'm willing to give anything a shot, for you. I'm always dragging you off to stupid movies and stuff. It's about time we do something that you like."

"Ever been to a ballet?"

"Ooh, not too sure on that one. They always looked really silly to me. I mean, I would be fine, but Yang... we'd probably have to make that one a date."

Weiss felt a jolt of panic down her spine. "Ruby, don't say that out loud!"

"Oops," Ruby laughed. She covered her hand with her mouth. "My bad..."

The heiress frowned and stared at the stage. "Just be more careful. I know you're trying. But it's only for another month, alright?"

"Yeah, I hear ya." She leaned over and whispered in the heiress' ear. "I just really wanna kiss you right now. In front of allll these people."

Great. That was all she needed right now, to be blushing, with Ruby whispering in her ear, in the middle of the crowded orchestra hall. She covered her mouth and chin with her hand and stared at the stage, keeping her face as expressionless as possible.

Yang and Blake slid back into their seats, and Weiss noted with growing apprehension that the blonde actually had a glass of whiskey this time. She shot a pointed look at Blake.

"Not my fault," the faunus answered with a shrug. "She's twenty-one now, and I'm not her mom."

Yang laughed and rested her head on Blake's shoulder, who smiled slightly as the dimming lights signalled the audience to return to their seats.

As they did so, Ruby half-whispered, half-shouted over to her sister. "Yang! My water?"

"Hahha, I forgot! Sorry!"

The brunette frowned and plopped back into her seat, folding her arms over her chest as she did so. The lights faded to blackness, and all was quiet as the audience eagerly awaited the start of the second act.

* * *

She didn't remember how it started. She didn't remember how it ended. All she knew was that she came back to herself when the lights went down, and the hall once again filled with the sound of clapping hands. But this time it was deafening.

A man rose to his feet, the man next to him followed, and before she knew it, the entire, vast hall was giving a standing ovation.

Hell, even Yang was on her feet.

And even stranger, the emotion she was left with wasn't joy, or happiness, or even satisfaction.

The only feeling she was left with was remorse. Regret, and despair. So cold, so piercing, so _real_, that she couldn't do anything but applaud.

It reminded her of nothing more than how she had felt when she denied her feelings to Ruby. When she had forced herself to bury her emotions, give up on her dreams, and drown herself underneath a tide of duty and tradition.

And evidently the brunette felt the same way, because she felt her warm, calloused hand slide easily into her own in the darkness.

The feelings of regret fled like darkness from the dawn, and were replaced with a profound sense of happiness and affection for her excitable partner.

That was the beautiful thing about music, she reflected as Ruby squeezed her hand, especially on a scale like this. It was different for everyone. The man with tears in his eyes to her left had probably experienced something completely different, but it was no less profound or heartfelt for either of them. Music was personal; its shaped by your own experiences and views.

The applause faded, Ruby's hand slipped from hers, and people started either sitting down or moving off towards the rear of the hall.

Yang and Blake both decided to stay seated, but Weiss felt the sharp urge to stretch her legs. "Ruby, let's get something to drink."

The brunette simply smiled at her and nodded. They walked up the gently sloping aisle, moving carefully around other attendees as they headed for the bar. After waiting in line for a time, engaged in easy conversation all the while, they left with a glass of champagne, and Ruby's long-overdue glass of water.

"I'm telling you Weiss, that was just incredible. I've never felt that way before. I mean, with music at least."

"I know, I know," the heiress laughed. "That's the third time you've said it." She risked looking over her shoulder as she walked, shooting Ruby a warm smile. "I'm really glad you're enjoying it."

Turning back to the fore, she was hit with a strange feeling, a premonition almost. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something just felt... off. A space cleared in the aisle, and a well-dressed man approached her coming the opposite way. A rabbit faunus, judging by the floppy grey ears stretching out from his shoulder-length blonde hair. Just before they passed, he looked down, she looked up, and their eyes met. He smiled, and it chilled her to the bone.

And then he passed, and the moment passed with it. She nearly bumped into the woman in front of her, and a small amount of the champagne she was holding spilled onto the floor.

"Whoa, you okay Weiss?" Ruby asked from behind her.

"Yes, I'm... I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Positive. Let's get back to our seats."

They returned along with the vast majority of the crowd, and the lights dimmed lower as the last few people left in the aisles ducked their heads and quickened their pace, trying to get to their seats before the start of the third, and final movement.

_"Ah,"_ Weiss thought as she sipped her drink, _"the third act. Where it all comes together, where everything is wrapped up and the story comes to a close."_ Looking down at the program in her lap, she saw the title of the final movement.

_Acceptance._

The more she thought about it, the more the entire piece seemed to be a simulacrum, a musical embodiment of her relationship with Ruby. Repression, denial, and then... acceptance. Was it a coincidence that they had come here? She had nearly brought her team to a movie, after all. But the orchestra had caught her eye.

Was it fate? Maybe, she decided. But then, she would have to believe in fate in the first place.

The lights died, darkness fell, and she felt Ruby's hand groping in the darkness, searching for her own. She suppressed a chuckle and met her partner's hand with her own. Their fingers curled slowly around eachother.

The crowd sat in collective silence, awaiting the start of the final and most important act of all.

* * *

Only, it never came.

With no warning the lights flared on, and a collective gasp was heard around the room.

Standing front and center on the stage, in front of the orchestra, was a group of at least thirty armed men. Or faunus, to be exact.

Deer faunus, hawk faunus, dog faunus, turtle faunus, even giraffe faunus. All with different body types and sizes. All wearing different suits. The only thing that they held in common was a loaded assault rifle, and a grim smile.

"_Goooood_ evening ladies and gentlemen! I _sincerely_ apologize for this interruption to your regularly scheduled programming. But I just need a moment of your time, you understand?"

The deep, booming voice, projected somehow by the halls own speaker systems, clearly came from the man who stepped forward from the rest of the group. Only, not a man. A rabbit faunus, with floppy grey ears and shoulder-length blonde hair.

Weiss' blood went cold.

Beside her, Ruby leaned forward, and she heard the metallic *_clink-chunk*_ of Yang extending her gauntlets.

"Blake, get our weapons," Yang whispered, without moving her eyes from the stage.

The faunus nodded, and then slipped away. It was so smooth and sudden that if Weiss hadn't been watching her, she would've been inclined to say that Blake had never been there in the first place. Certainly no one else noticed, being far too fixated on the scene in front of them.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the voice echoed from the speakers. The rabbit faunus waved his hands animatedly as he talked, pacing the front of the stage. "My name is Charles. And I, and my friends here, are members of an organized group of faunus rights activists. Perhaps you've heard of us? We call ourselves the White Fang."

A collective gasp echoed throughout the crowd, followed by harsh whispers. Several people stood and tried to leave. As soon as they did, the White Fang members stepped forward and raised their rifles.

"Ah ah ah!" Charles shouted. "Don't even _think_ about trying to leave. Seriously, how rude is that? I've only just introduced myself, and you're already trying to beat feet out of here."

Shakily, the would-be escapees sat down. But the White Fang kept their assault rifles up.

"So, as I was saying, we are members of the White Fang. But don't let that scare you. Because I only want," he held a finger in the air, "_one._ Of you. Just one person, out of this entire crowd. And once I get this person, the rest of you can fly away!" He waved his hands like a pair of wings. "Free as a bird!"

Weiss felt a heavy sense of dread fall on herself like a hammer blow. She had a distinct feeling that she knew_ exactly_ who they wanted.

Ruby grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. She looked at her partner, and saw a look of grim determination on her face. Evidently the brunette had come to the same conclusion. "I won't let them have you," she whispered. "I'm never letting you go, remember? Not now, not over."

Ruby's words sent a wave of calm over her. It would be fine, the brunette's firm grip on her hand told her. It would be fine, no matter what. Ruby was here. And so were Yang and Blake. They would find a way out of this.

"So," the rabbit faunus continued. "one person. That's it." A wave of nervous glances made the crowd look like a rippling ocean. Nobody knew who the person would be, and nobody wanted it to be them.

Charles stopped pacing. He stood straight, and faced the crowd with a wicked smile. "Weiss, Schnee!"

A dead silence fell on the room. Then, Weiss saw a pair of eyes land on her, from a man in front. Then another. Then another, and another, and another. People turned, following the gazes of the people around them.

And now, every single person in the room was staring right at her. She felt like a deer caught in headlights, like a rabbit snared in a trap. There was no escaping now.

She almost started to tremble, but then felt something else. Ruby's warm, calloused hand. It steadied her, brought back her confidence. She was _Weiss Schnee_. Heiress of the one of the most powerful companies in the world, and raised to be strong and unflinching in the face of danger.

She stood.

"Ah, and there she is! The lovely Ms. Schnee, heiress to a corporation build on questionable business practices, _dangerous_ working conditions, and _slave labor_. And daughter of one of the _worst_ perpetrators of faunus rights abuse since the Human-Faunus wars."

The crowd still stared at her, judging her, condemning her. They wanted to give her up, if only for their own self-preservation. She could see it.

But she had hardened herself, and wouldn't back down now. She raised her shrill voice so that it carried to the stage. "Charles, although obviously that isn't your real name, I have to ask what exactly you plan on doing with me once you have me. Blackmail? Are you going to try and get my father to give your people better wages?"

Charles stared at her, but didn't say anything.

"Extortion? Is that it? Want to force my father to pay you? How many lien? A million? Ten million?"

"We're not doing this for money, Ms. Schnee," he laughed. "And we're not trying to blackmail your father, as satisfying as that would be. We're doing this because it has to be done."

"And what _exactly_ are you doing then?" she shouted back.

He smiled, slow and chilling. "Killing you," he said.

As nervous as she was, she couldn't help but smirk. So _that_ was how it was going to be. "And, I might add, trying to do it with a minimum of collateral damage," he said, indicating the crowd with a sweep of his hand. "So that's why I'm giving you one, emphasis on one, minute. Say goodbye to whoever you need, call whoever you need, whatever. And then you come up to the stage. And I kill you."

"And if I don't?"

He held up a small black cylinder with a red button on top. A detonator. "Then I set off bombs all over the theatre."

The crowd gasped, and several people tried to make a run for it. But this time, the White Fang didn't hold their fire. Stuttering bursts of assault rifle fire ripped through the hall, and the men and women trying to run through the aisles dropped in sprays of blood.

"Oh, what a shame!" Charles shouted with a laugh. "What a shame! See? See what happens when you try to run?"

The crowd stayed in their seats now, but gripped the edges of their chairs and sent frantic glances around the room and to eachother. The smell of gunpowder hung in the air, and several people were sobbing.

Weiss stood resolute. She was clenching her fists together so tightly that she drew blood. But she ignored the pain. It was nothing compared to the anger burning in her chest. She swore to herself that not a single member of the White Fang would leave the hall alive.

Ruby stood next to her. And judging by her burning gaze, she felt the same.

She didn't even have to look at Yang. She could_ feel_ the intense heat wafting from the blonde.

"So," Charles started. "You've got one minute. Otherwise I blow the bombs."

Weiss' mind raced, her thoughts sharp and calculated. He was bluffing, she was sure of it. There was no way he would have been able to plant bombs in the orchestra hall, their security was too tight. She had ensured it personally.

"You're bluffing," she shouted.

Unexpectedly, he shrugged. "You're right."

_That_ took her by surprise. "Wait... what?"

"You're right, I was bluffing." He laughed, but there was no humor to it. "I was gonna blow the bombs anyway."

Ruby exploded into action, shooting towards the stage in a blur of crimson. But she was too late. The rabbit faunus thumbed the detonator.

Weiss shot her hand out towards Ruby, Yang shouted something incomprehensible, and the world disappeared in a flash of white.

* * *

Heat. Powerful, burning heat.

Light, the kind that turned the back of her eyelids red.

Screams, hundreds of them, all of different pitch and intensity. Some right beside her.

She opened her eyes, and awoke to a world of flames.

Spurned into action by the fire, she got to her feet. Her side hurt like hell from where the blast had slammed her to the ground, but other than that, she was fine. She spun, taking quick stock of her surroundings.

The orchestra hall was on fire. People ran past her, scrambling in a mad rush to escape with their lives. Others weren't so lucky. Broken and burnt bodies lay all around her, and she realized that she had survived solely due to her aura. These people didn't have that luxury.

Anger burned in her blood, rushing through her veins as she looked upon the dead. These people were _innocent_. The White Fang had no right to take their lives, or anyone's for that matter. She remembered her previous conviction. They would _pay_, she thought with gritted teeth. Every single one of the White Fang would pay for this.

Her eyes were drawn towards the stage. Half of the White Fang had broken off and were charging towards her, using their rifles as bludgeoning tools when screaming people got in their way. She had a few minutes before they reached her, at least. The other half were lighting Molotov cocktails, and chucking them into the few parts of the hall that weren't yet in flames. Charles, the rabbit faunus leading what was now obviously a kill-mission, was nowhere to be seen.

Yang's distinctive voice sounded near her. "Weiss! You're alive!" The blonde rushed up to her, gauntlets deployed and at the ready. Her dress was singed, and she looked absolutely livid. But she sounded relieved that the heiress was alive, and Yang's concern touched her.

"I'm fine! Where's Ruby? And Blake?"

Yang jerked her head in the direction of the entrance. Her speech was rushed and breathless, mostly because of the smoke starting to clog the air. "Blake's still getting our weapons, I hope. Haven't seen her. Ruby flew off towards the stage. That girl can do the dumbest things, I swear."

The screaming crowd surged around them, two solid stones in a rushing river of bodies.

"Blake should be back soon, but you've got to find Ruby," Yang said.

Right as the blonde finished speaking, four White Fang members shoved their way through the press of screaming people. Their rifles were slung on their backs, and they each carried single-edged steel blades with a hooked tip. Weiss' immediate reaction was to avoid them; she was still weaponless. But the White Fang spotted them almost immediately, and grinning, advanced on them. People shouted, and a space cleared in the crowd as they saw the raised weapons. The White Fang spread out around them in a half-circle, Yang dropped to a fighting stance, and Weiss stood her ground, in the middle of this flaming hell that painted flickering shadows and the walls and made her sweat.

The heat of the flames was nothing compared to the fire that burned in her breast. They would _pay_.

Yang shot towards them with a blast of Ember Celica, and Weiss charged with her, enraged. "You animals!" she screamed.

The White Fang were caught off guard by the fury of their assault, and the first one fell to a crushing blow to the head from Yang. The blonde flowed into a series of kicks and punches, meeting the blades of two of the remaining three.

The last raised his sword and swung at the heiress, three times in rapid succession. She spun and dodged each one.

With his last strike he overextended, and Weiss kicked out and swept his legs out from under him. He dropped his sword, and it clattered to the floor. She didn't give him time to recover, and aimed for his head with the heel of her shoe.

In the blur of the smoke however, she misjudged her target and missed, and he shot his arm out and grabbed her heel, pulling her to the ground. He rolled on top of her and she scrambled to get away, but his sheer strength was telling, and he overpowered her and got both hands around her neck.

He squeezed, and the world began to blur. "Animals! We're just animals to you, aren't we!" he shouted. She scrambled for purchase, even punching him repeatedly in the head. But his eyes were burning with rage, and he didn't even flinch.

This wasn't right, she was a swordsman, not a brawler. She couldn't win this. Where was Yang? Where was Blake? His grip tightened, and she could feel her own struggles weakening.

Where was Ruby?

"I'm going to choke the life out of you, you heartless bit-"

The pressure relented, and she gasped as her vision cleared. The tip of a hooked blade was protruding from his chest. _"Gambol Shroud," _she thought with relief, as Blake's head appeared beside his. His eyes went wide with shock, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

"No, she's right." Blake spoke in a low monotone. "You_ are_ animals. You don't deserve to be called faunus."

The raven-haired girl shoved his body aside and reached out her hand, which Weiss gladly took. "Th- ***cough cough*** - thank you," she managed to say.

Blake smiled at her and hauled her to her feet, then pressed something solid into her hands. Weiss' fingers instinctively curled around the familiar grip. Myrtenaster.

"You're welcome," Blake replied. "Now go find Ruby. I've got Yang."

Looking over to her right, she saw that Yang was now battling not two, but _seven_ White Fang members. The blonde was a blur of motion, blocking sword blows and delivering bone-shattering kicks and punches in return. Her hair was on fire, but the flames were her own. She was more than holding her own, she was _winning_.

But more White Fang faunus were appearing from the flames, and she was going to need help soon. Luckily, she had Blake. That was what partners were for after all.

She looked back at Blake and nodded. The cat faunus clasped her on the shoulder, then spun around and rushed off to help her girlfriend.

Weiss took a deep breath, or as much of one as she could in the smoke-filled air. The flames were spreading, and most of the ground floor was engulfed in blazing orange fire. The crowd, thankfully, had mostly fled. The few people that remained were either dead or unable to move. But she couldn't stop to help, as much as it hurt to ignore them.

She had to find Ruby. That single, overriding concern filled her with a fearful energy, almost as powerful as the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She _had _to find Ruby.

She took off running towards the stage, picking a path through the flames, which was difficult in the choking, smoke-filled air.

As she ran, she looked at every motionless body she passed, and she was struck by a growing sense of dread. What if the next body was Ruby's? What if the girl was already dead?

_No_, she thought with gritted teeth. She vaulted over a row of chairs that was the only clear path through the flames. No, Ruby was still alive. She had to be. She _had_ to be.

As she moved further into the orchestra hall, she began to feel a presence. It grew stronger the closer she moved to the stage, and she instantly recognized it. Ruby's aura.

Now guided by her partner's spirit, she broke into a dead sprint towards where the feeling was strongest.

And stopped. There was a literal wall of flames between her and Ruby's aura.

Thinking quickly, she cycled Myrtenaster's revolving chambers, then shot a blast of ice at the feet of the wall of fire. The ice was dust-created, and much harder and colder than regular ice would be. Instead of melting, it created a gap in the flames long enough for her to dive through a wall of smoke.

She had no way of knowing what was on the other side, but she didn't care as long as it brought her to Ruby.

She cleared the flame wall, but hit the ground hard, smacking into a chair that had been toppled into the aisle. She quickly scrambled to her feet and looked at the aisle in front of the stage.

Her eyes narrowed, and dread warred with relief as she looked at the scene before her.

Ruby. She was there, but clearly not conscious. She lay in the middle of the aisle on her side, but her breathing was regular and steady. That wasn't the problem, however.

The problem was the five White Fang members surrounding Ruby, aiming their rifles not at the brunette, but at her. They had been waiting for her. Someone had known that she had come for Ruby.

"Ready to die bitch?" one of them shouted. The anger returned, burning through her body and filling her limbs with a frenzied energy. They were all going to die.

Just as they opened fire, she finished making the symbol of a protective glyph, and it sprang up in front of her; a white, shimmering circle inscribed with runes of safety and deflection.

She ran forward with the glyph held in front of her, and the incoming rounds bounced off of it with a sharp cracking sound and spun away into the fire.

The sound of that many weapons discharges so close made her flinch, but she ducked her head and kept the glyph up. And then she was amongst them.

They dropped their rifles and pulled their swords, but they were too late. Blade-craft was_ her_ territory.

Before the first one could get his sword fully out of the sheath on his back, she lunged forward and stabbed her rapier through his neck, withdrawing it just as quickly. He stumbled back and clutched his neck as blood poured through his fingers. One down, four to go.

The man she had stabbed was in the middle of the group, and she shot out a glyph of force that threw the two men to her right to the ground. Now she only had to fight the two on her left, at least until the other two picked themselves back up. This all happened in the space of a few seconds.

The two still standing launched towards her with a battle cry and swung their swords in wide, sweeping motions. They clearly broadcasted their strikes. "_Amateurs, good,"_ she thought.

Easily parrying one blow and dodging the other, she threw up a repelling glyph behind her with her free hand. When the other two picked themselves up, it would be a few seconds before they broke through it.

One of the two men facing her was clearly overzealous, and instead of fighting with his partner as he should have, he charged her. She sidestepped him and his blade, and swept Myrtenaster at his legs as he rushed past. Blood sprayed, and he toppled over with a scream. The second man cried out in rage and raised his sword for an overhead blow, but she was quicker. She aimed Myrtenaster and shot him in the face with burn dust.

Instantly engulfed in flames, he dropped his weapon and stumbled backwards, screaming in horror. In his panic, he tripped backwards and fell into even more flames. Two down, three to go.

The man whose leg she had cut was struggling to rise, and she quickly strode over to him and stabbed him through the back of the neck. Three down, two to go. Each kill filled her with grim satisfaction. These men had already murdered dozens, and they had meant to kill her and her team. They had meant to kill _Ruby_. She didn't feel an ounce of remorse.

With cries of rage, the two remaining White Fang members finally bashed their way through her repelling glyph, which was little more than a temporary barrier at best. But still, she was grateful for her semblance. She might not be as fast as Ruby, or be able to fight as long as Yang could, but with her glyphs, she could do so many things they could not.

The last two White Fang charged her. She stood her ground.

It all happened in a second. One swung at her, a wide, horizontal slash from her left. The other didn't bother to use his sword, he simply launched into a flying kick.

She ducked the kick and the slash. At least there was one benefit to being short. Coming up, she stabbed the man using his sword through the chest. The blade easily pierced his sternum, and he gasped like she had struck him with a hammer. His charge carried him past her as she slid the blade out, and he crumbled to the ground.

The man who had attempted to kick her stumbled past, not expecting to miss. He spun and faced her. She spun and faced him. Then she shot him in the face with a canister of lightning dust.

A bolt of eye-achingly bright lighting leapt from her blade and struck him, and he howled in agony as he fell. Smoke rose from his twitching body. One down, one to go.

She glanced to her right, at the man she had stabbed in the chest. Never mind, he wasn't moving. One down, none to go.

She lowered Myrtenaster and took a deep breath, working to calm her racing nerves. The adrenaline was starting to fade, and her head cleared slightly. What wasn't clearing however was the smoke. It was growing thicker, and made it hard to see and even harder to breath. The deep breath she took sent her into a coughing fit.

But Ruby, Ruby was the priority. She stumbled over to the brunette's body and, kneeling by her side, immediately noticed that her breathing was irregular now. The smoke! Lacking consciousness, she wasn't able to control her breathing, and her body was sucking the tainted air in without heed.

She had to get Ruby out of here. In a frenzy, she looked back towards the entrance of the orchestra hall, which now seemed an impossible distance away. All she saw were sheets of flame. The fire was beginning to creep up the walls now.

A burst of inspiration struck her, and she looked up, remembering the network of crossbeams stretching across the ceiling she had seen when they entered. They were still there, a checkered network of wide wooden beams that made the ceiling look like a chessboard. Hopefully the smoke hadn't risen up yet.

She shook Ruby and shouted her name, hoping the brunette would wake so they could escape this burning hell together. No such luck; Ruby was still comatose.

She would have to carry the girl out then. With a grunt, she put her arms beneath Ruby and lifted. Dust, the girl was heavy! She dropped the brunette, sheathed Myrtenaster, and this time slung Ruby onto her back instead of trying to simply carry her bridal-style.

A fireman's carry. Fitting, she thought with a wry grin.

With Ruby over her back, she used one hand to hold the brunette's legs in place, and another to form the hand-signs she needed to create a glyph of propulsion at her feet. She forced all of her concentration into it; it had to be perfect. One small mistake and it wouldn't launch them high enough, and they'd fall back into the flames. Or it would send them too high, and they would hit the roof.

With a grunt of effort she finished the glyph, and prayed to whatever gods there were that this would work.

She triggered it. With a dizzying burst of vertigo, her stomach dropped into her gut and she shot up into the air. Up, past the flames, past the lights on the walls, past a gap in the crossbeams. And just as she thought she had overshot them, her momentum bled off and she landed right in the middle of one. Ruby's weight proved too much for her, and they both dropped to the ground.

But they were safe, for now. The smoke was much thinner up here: she wasn't down among the fires anymore and the roof above her was far enough away that the smoke collecting under it didn't reach her. She took several deep breaths. Then she stood, made sure Ruby's body wouldn't roll off of the beam, and looked around. Above her, the domed roof curved up to a point. Below, the entire hall was engulfed in flames, including the only exit. To her left and right the crossbeams ran into a wall, and behind her they did the same. There was only one escape: the giant glass window that stretched up from behind the stage and reached to the ceiling.

Somehow, she would have to get both of them out that window. Maybe she could use her glyphs to propel them to the roof, or use one to halt their fall into the bay full of water that she knew lay below.

Either way, she had to get there first. There was still a good distance between her and the window.

Her mind made up, she bent down to throw Ruby over her shoulder, but then heard the _thunk_ of feet landing heavily on wood.

She jolted her head up. Standing between her and the window, was a rabbit faunus. With two floppy grey ears, shoulder-length blonde hair, and a wicked smile. And a hooksword in each hand.

* * *

"Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise." His voice was deep, which seemed at odds with his sharp face and fluffy rabbit ears. I see you got your partner to safety. A feat truly worthy of the final movement of this orchestra. And what a final act it has been, wouldn't you agree?"

"You're a monster," Weiss growled through gritted teeth. "Do you have any idea how many people you've killed already?"

He looked at her like she had just told him that two plus two equals purple. "Are you serious? You think I'd order my men to fire on these civilians, then have them throw _Molotov cocktails_ into the crowd, and not have any idea what I was doing? What kind of fantasy world are you living in? Oh, let me guess. I must have some sort of mental disorder, and I don't realize what I'm doing, right?" He laughed, but it was more a low chuckle with no humor behind it. "Trust me," he finished with a wicked smile. "I know _exactly_ how many people I've killed. And soon, you're gonna be another number on the body count."

"No, I'm _not_. "Weiss replied with rage burning in her veins. "I'm going to kill you, and I'm going to make it _slow_. You're going to suffer like these people have."

Charles unbuttoned his coat, top to bottom in slow, deliberate motions. "Well then, you're going to have a hard time of it. You didn't think was going to be easy did you? The hero defeating the evil villain and saving the townspeople?" He finished with his coat, and dropped his hands to his sides. His fingers twitched. "There's a little twist to this story _princess_. I already killed the townspeople."

He moved like lighting. Whipcord-fast, he reached inside his unbuttoned coat, and when he pulled his hands back out, he clutched throwing knives in between his fingers. Her only warning was the glint of cold steel, and she threw herself to the side as ten steel daggers whizzed through the space where she had just stood.

She landed on the wooden beam to her right, barely keeping her balance. She looked back at her opponent, but he was already right in front of her, swinging his hookswords at her head.

She barely managed to bring Myrtenaster up in time to catch both of the blades. He swung the swords so fast, it sounded as if they ripped the air itself. This was bad, she thought. He already had her on the back foot, and he was pressing his advantage hard.

She swept her leg out in attempt to knock him off his feet, but he nimbly leaped over it and crossed his blades together like a pair of scissors, then brought them together. Weiss did a quick backflip over the point where the blades met, putting a bit of distance between them.

She stood at the ready, Myrtenaster held out before her and her other arm resting at her side.

"Enough of the dirty tricks, okay?" Charles said. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the roaring flames. "Let's make this a simple contest between swordsmen. Or swordswoman I guess, in your case."

Weiss didn't bother to answer him. With her free hand, she created a glyph at his feet that would launch him into the air.

He glanced down at the last second, and leapt backwards. The glyph detonated, but did nothing but blast the smoke in the air upwards.

"Ooh, that's nifty. I guess dirty tricks _are_ still on the table. Eh, all's fair in love and war."

Weiss was still too furious to reply. She simply stared him down and waited for him to make his move. That was how she would have to beat him, she realized. He was fast, almost as fast as Ruby, but with that kind of raw speed, you were bound to make a mistake sooner or later. And she would be waiting.

She had at least one thing to be grateful for: so far he hadn't made any move towards Ruby's prone form. Either he thought she was dead, or he simply didn't care enough to finish her off. Actually now that she thought about it, he probably had something sick and twisted planned, like forcing Ruby awake to see Weiss' lifeless body.

"Oh come on, this is the part where you say something cool like: 'Have at you wretch!' No?" He frowned. "Well you're making this no fun."

"Shut the fuck up," Weiss growled, "and _fight me_."

He cocked his head to the side and grinned at her. "Well alright then."

And then suddenly he was in front of her, swinging his hookswords with a deadly combination blinding speed and brutal force. Weiss fought with equal ferocity, but also with a measured grace and skill. Where he was blinding speed and aggression, she was discipline and refined, near-perfect technique.

Their swords clashed together over and over, several times a second, and the sound of crashing steel filled the flaming hall. Weiss concentrated harder than she ever had before, forgetting conscious thought and letting all her countless hours of training with Myrtenaster take over. He pressed forward as he attacked, moving her backward step by step.

The most unnerving thing of all was that his face didn't match the fury of his blows. Somehow, he didn't even look angry. That stupid grin was still on his face. She was fighting for her and Ruby's lives, and he was _enjoying_ it. Her anger boiled over, more than she thought possible, and even though she knew that it was a mistake, she let her rage take over her actions. It filled her with vitality and energy, and her strikes became brutal, powerful things.

For a few seconds he was caught off guard, and actually began moving backwards, retreating from the raw fury of her blows. But the problem with fighting with only your anger is that it prevented you from thinking, from making rational decisions. If she was thinking, she might have put a glyph under his feet while he was focused on fending off Myrtenaster. If she was thinking, she might have shot him with a canister of dust, which he wouldn't have been expecting either.

If she was thinking, a lot of things might have happened. But she fighting purely off of rage and instinct, and her technique grew sloppy and uncoordinated. And instead of _him_ making a mistake, like Weiss had planned, _she_ made one.

It was only a small slip-up, a tiny error that she would have easily corrected if she was training back at Beacon. But this wasn't Beacon.

She lunged forward just slightly too far, while he still held his other sword at the ready. He backed up and, overbalanced as she was, she stumbled forward. He lashed out with his second sword, hooked the tip through one of the holes in Myrtenaster's ornate crossguard, and pulled. His strength was brutal.

He yanked his arm backwards, her hand slipped from the rapier's grip, and Myrtenaster went sailing through the glass window behind him, shattering it with a resounding crash.

Her eyes went wide with shock, and terror wrapped its clutching fingers around her heart.

She frantically tried to backpedal, but he kicked out with the heel of his boot, striking her kneecap at an angle. The bone broke with a sickening _snap _and she cried out in agony, but he grabbed her arm and held her upright before she could fall off the beam.

"How's that for a dirty trick?" he laughed. "Bet that hurts like a bitch huh?"

Weiss' scream of pain turned into one of rage, and with her free arm she punched him in the side of the head. His head snapped to the side, and she managed to grab ahold of one of his rabbit ears. She didn't really know what she was planning to do with it, but in her desperation she pulled it to the side as hard as she could.

He roared in pain and anger, and their eyes met. His were full of rage, and hers went wide as she fully realized the danger she was in. It was incredible how quickly things had gone wrong. Not twenty minutes ago, she was simply enjoying a night at the orchestra. And now she was about to die.

With one arm he held her up on her tiptoes, and with the other he punched her in the face, _hard_. The blow nearly knocked her out, and the world became hazy and indistinct. She could feel blood run down her chin, and realized her nose was broken. But it was all strange, as if she was in a dream. The pain was muted for some reason; it didn't feel real. The flames didn't look real, the smoke didn't look real. None of it did anymore.

She thought about laying on her bed with Ruby, eating popcorn and watching a movie together, and-

He punched her in the head again, and the world went black.

* * *

Ruby awoke from a world of darkness to the sound of clashing steel.

She immediately tried to stand, but gasped and gave up when a sharp pain pierced her skull. She clutched at her forehead as the splitting headache grew worse, worse... and then disappeared almost entirely.

The sound of colliding blades still echoed, and smoke filled her nostrils. She could also feel a dull warmth, slowly rising in intensity. Daring to open her eyes, she saw that it came from the flames that were steadily climbing the walls of the orchestra hall. Wait, how did she get up in the rafters? She clutched the beam she was on; the wood was somehow still cool and firm to her fingertips.

The headache returned, partially at least, and she groaned and shut her eyes. She focused on trying to remember how she got up here, but try as she might, the last thing she remembered was the White Fang, and a bomb going off. Actually, there was more... she remembered leaping towards the stage with a burst of her semblance... and she remembered Weiss trying to stop her... wait, Weiss!

A particularly grating blow of steel on steel caught her attention, and she looked over to see who the combatants were, suddenly worried that one of them would be her white-haired girlfriend.

And as fate, or divine providence, or whatever spiteful deity looked down on her that day would have it, she was.

Weiss was fighting for her life, against that same rabbit faunus who had detonated the bombs. Ruby snarled and reached for Crescent Rose, but started suddenly as her hand clutched at empty air.

_"Crap, I never got Crescent Rose from Blake!_ _Well then, guess it's gonna have to be the hard way,_" she thought.

She struggled to her feet, careful not to fall off of the wooden beam, and took off running towards Weiss. And immediately fell. She barely brought her hands out in front of her, otherwise her skull would have rebounded off of the unforgiving wood.

Growling in frustration, she reached down to her knees and ripped the sides of her dress, so that she could freely move her legs this time. _"This is the _last_ time I let her convince me to wear a dress." _

She looked back up, praying to that same spiteful deity that her slip-up hadn't cost Weiss her life. She was just in time. To see Weiss suspended in the air by her arm, weaponless, blood streaming from her nose.

She was just in time to see the rabbit faunus pulverize her face with a right hook, just in time to see Weiss' body go limp.

Just in time to see him sneer with contempt, and suspend her off the edge of the beam by her right arm.

Over the empty space below. Over the reaching flames that threatened to consume what had become her entire world.

Ruby exploded into action, bracing her feet on the forward edge of the beam she stood on and launching herself towards Weiss. She activated her semblance, pouring everything she had into it, and time seemed to slow. She moved so fast that the world became an indistinct blur around her. She had never moved like this before.

She could only see one thing clearly, and that was Weiss. The girl seemed to hang in the air, suspended in time. The rabbit faunus' hand was clearly open; he had released her to fall into the fire. But Ruby would die before she let that happen.

In slow-motion, so slow that she could see individual beads of sweat slip from her arms as she flew, she drew closer to Weiss and the rabbit faunus. And as slow as she was moving, she had all the time in the world to plan her next move. She grinned as she brought her foot out in front of her, in a sort of flying side kick. This was going to feel _good_.

Closer, closer, closer, and then it happened. The heel of her shoe struck the rabbit faunus squarely on the right cheek, and she watched in slow-motion as his skin rippled and his head snapped to the side. And with her arms held out in front of her, she grabbed ahold of Weiss' body before it had a chance to fall more than a few inches.

And then she was past the rabbit faunus, whose body began to turn into a spiral that would send him falling into the all-consuming flames.

She kept flying, Weiss clutched securely to her chest, with nothing now to stop her.

Nothing but the gigantic glass window that opened to the bay. She had forgotten to plan this far. But there was no stopping now.

Even in slow-motion, she winced involuntarily as her outstretched foot hit the glass and shattered it outwards. Spinning fragments of glass whizzed through the air around her, reflecting the night-time lights of the city. She watched in fascination as the shimmering shards collided with eachother, and shot out into the empty space beyond the window.

And then she looked down. Luckily they had already cleared the short stretch of pier behind the orchestra hall. They would hit water now.

The only problem was that they were still about five stories up in the air.

_"Crap,"_ was all she could think. Her semblance wore off, and time began to speed up again. _"Crapcrapcrapcrap!"_

And then she was free-falling, trying all at once to bring her legs together and point them downwards at the water, and trying to make sure that Weiss' limp body did the same.

And then she hit the black, churning waters of the bay.

* * *

A few harrowing minutes later, filled with swimming, gasping, sputtering, and trying to keep Weiss afloat, she finally dragged them both onto the grey concrete lip that was the edge of the bay. Luckily the tide was high. She didn't know what she would have done otherwise.

She lay on her back with her chest heaving, one hand clutched securely around Weiss' arm just to make sure that the other girl was still there. That she hadn't lost her. The stretch of waterfront sidewalk she was lying on was lit by a line of streetlamps, and their harsh white glow stung her eyelids.

Dimly, she could hear the sound of rushing feet. She rolled onto her front, rose up onto all fours, and coughed out a lungful of water. People started to surround her, asking if she was okay, calling for help, and then a few made the mistake of trying to touch Weiss.

Ruby snarled at them like a cornered animal, and they backed away in surprise. "Stay away from her!" she half-shouted, her voice dull and raspy.

It wasn't as if she would deny Weiss medical attention, but she had no way of knowing if the White Fang had agents in the crowd itself. This would be the perfect opportunity for one of them to finish the job.

She struggled to her feet, wincing as her vision swam. "Just, please, stay back." She looked around at the confused crowd. Her back was to the water, and it felt like they were pressing in on her, pressing in on Weiss. Her protective instincts overrode all rational thought.

Taking a second look at the crowd, she saw that they were all either attendees of the orchestra, or passers-by from the street. No one that looked like they had any medical training.

"Are there any medics here?" she asked. "Any first responders?" Not waiting for an answer, she looked down at Weiss. The girl was breathing steadily, and the damage to her face looked to be superficial, aside from her bent, clearly broken nose. But her leg was canted at a strange angle. The bone itself seemed to be bulging at the skin, and her knee was already swelling.

Weiss' dress of shimmering silver was ripped and torn in places, and soot-stained. And knowing Weiss, that was what would probably anger her most. Not the broken leg or broken nose, but the ruined, fabulously expensive dress. _"What had she called it? A Terry Zimmerman or something?" _Ruby wondered. She sighed, and contended herself with the knowledge that Weiss was at least alive. They were both alive, miraculously. The adrenaline was leaving her system, and Ruby felt light-headed and weak in its wake.

"Hey. Hey, girl, are you listening?"

"Huh?" She snapped her head up, not realizing that the man addressing her from the crowd had been doing so for some time already. "I said there's fire trucks and ambulances over that way." He pointed towards the front of the orchestra hall. "If you need help, I can carry the girl..."

Ruby flashed him a smile. "Thanks, but no thanks. I've got her."

She had carried Weiss out of the burning hall and across the bay; there was no way she was letting a stranger carry her for the final stretch. She reached down and picked Weiss up by the shoulders and knees in a bridal carry. She attempted to keep the girl's broken leg at a normal angle, but that was difficult considering Weiss was little more than a dripping, limp body at this point.

She cradled Weiss to her chest and walked forward, and the crowd parted for her, staring at them as she passed.

_"Let them stare,"_ she thought._ "That's all they can do is stare. _I'm_ the one that rescued the princess today._ I'm_ the one with Weiss in her arms."_

She smirked. The heiress definitely owed her a tray of fresh-baked cookies for this. Probably more.

She carried Weiss to the nearest ambulance, which was in a line of vehicles from the fire department, police department, and more. As soon as she drew near, two men in blue first responder uniforms rushed over to take Weiss from her arms.

She glared at them and told them in no uncertain terms what would happen if they tried to take her. If they wanted to work on her in the ambulance, that was fine, but _she_ would carry her there.

They relented almost immediately, and led Ruby to the open back of an ambulance, a red, blocky vehicle with flashing lights. And it wasn't the only one. The entire vehicle-crowded intersection was illuminated by flashing blue and red lights; they flashed off of the walls and windows of the nearby storefronts. Firemen and police officers rushed back and forth, receiving orders from their respective chiefs and moving to carry them out.

In the distance, she could see giant streams of water lashing at the orchestra hall, which was now completely engulfed, top to bottom, in roaring flames. The blazing light cast deep shadows at her feet, and at the foot of every person and emergency vehicle there. It was a world of sharp contrast, blinding red and blue light warring with pitch-black shadows. She held Weiss a little closer.

As carefully as she could, she stepped up inside the ambulance and lay Weiss on the gurney, then stepped back. Immediately, the medics got to work on her. One dabbed her face, telling the other there wasn't much they could do about the broken nose here. Once at the hospital, they could set it. She had a deep gash in her side that Ruby hadn't seen, and that they quickly cleaned and disinfected, then stitched up.

As for her broken leg, after setting it and splinting the bone with a plastic splint, they informed her that Weiss would, obviously, need a cast. Which, once again, could only be done at the hospital. The only problem was that there were far too many injured people, and not enough ambulances. They couldn't make a run back to the hospital just for one girl in non-critical condition, when there were still dozens of people with far far more life-threatening injuries.

Ruby agreed as much, but did so reluctantly. The medics told Ruby to keep Weiss' leg in the splint, and that she should be awake soon; they couldn't be completely sure, but it appeared that she hadn't suffered any head trauma. They gave her a heavy blue blanket, and sent her off.

As soon as Ruby, now carrying Weiss, cleared the ambulance, not one, but two wheeled gurneys approached at speed. As they were being loaded into the ambulance, Ruby couldn't help but stare at the patients. One, a tallish man in his late forties, had second degree burns all down the left side of his body. His eyes were glazed over from the Novocaine gas he had been given; otherwise Ruby knew he would probably be screaming. The second gurney held a woman, whose left leg looked mangled and twisted. There were also pieces of wooden shrapnel clearly embedded in her chest; they poked out of her expensive-looking navy blue dress.

Ruby stood in quiet contemplation, clutching Weiss to her chest. Part of her was still in shock, not wanting to believe that tonight was real. The other, rational part hoped that all the injured people would be okay. She hoped that the orchestra building could be saved. But above all, she hoped that every single White Fang member who had entered the building that night was dead. And she hoped that Charles, the rabbit faunus who led the operation, had still been conscious when he fell into the fire.

As wrong as it felt, she wished she could have heard his screams. Maybe that would deaden some of the pain she was feeling; that dull ache that clutched at her heart and squeezed like a vice. The pain that all his _victims_ had felt, and were still feeling.

It was incredibly selfish, she knew. So many others had lost loved ones tonight... but she was elated beyond belief that Weiss had survived. If she hadn't... she didn't want to think about it. Just entertaining the prospect made her heart burn and her headache start to return.

So she settled for sitting down on a nearby sidewalk, setting Weiss down next to her and resting the white-haired girl's head on her lap. She stared at the burning orchestra hall and stroked her girlfriend's hair.

Several minutes later, the orchestra hall came down.

Everyone started shouting all at once, and then people rushed away from the burning, creaking building like ants from a flooded anthill. The building gave out a massive crack, and then all at once the roof caved in, sending a massive gout of sparks shooting up into the night sky. Ruby watched it happen with dull, lifeless eyes. It _still_ didn't seem real. This was supposed to have been a simple night at the orchestra, nothing more. The burning sparks in the sky mingled with the stars before they burned out, and for a brief instant the number of bright lights up there in the black infinite tripled. The embers were indistinguishable from burning balls of gas billions of light-years away.

The thought was somehow sobering to Ruby._ "As if I wasn't in a bad enough mood already," _she thought.

There was more shouting, closer to her, but this time it was a voice she recognized.

"Oh holy shit Ruby! You're alive!" Her older sister was running to her, with Blake in tow.

"Yang?" Ruby stood, and it struck her that she had completely forgotten about Yang and Blake until now. She quickly wrote it off as her just being too concerned with Weiss, and knowing that the two could easily handle themselves. No group of White Fang was going to take her sister down. Hell, they wouldn't have taken _her_ down either, if she hadn't been an idiot and rushed off to the stage without waiting for her partner... Then she realized that Weiss being injured was totally, completely, one hundred percent _her fault_. If she had just stayed back...

She almost started to cry, but then Yang had her wrapped up in one of her trademark bear hugs, completely crushing the life from her. Her headache immediately returned with skull-splitting intensity, and she cried out in pain.

"Ruby! What's wrong?!"

She clutched her head, and struggled back down into a sitting position to the right of Weiss.

"N-nothing..." she managed to say. "Just a massive headache... and you made it come back..."

"Oh... crap. Sorry." Yang sat down to her right. Blake followed, sitting next to Yang and putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"So... other than that, are you okay? And..." Her eyes traveled to Weiss' prone form. "Is Weiss gonna be okay?"

"She'll be fine," Ruby muttered. It was all she could manage at the moment. The headache was lessening, but not by much. She probably had a concussion, she realized. Maybe she should have let the medics examine her after all.

"She's got a broken leg and her side's cut up pretty bad, and that _fucking rabbit bitch_ knocked her out... but they said she's gonna be okay."

Yang spoke softly. "They?"

"Yeah, the medics. They can't take her to the hospital right now, she's not critical condition or whatever. And they apparently have a _lot_ of those tonight."

"Yeah," Yang said, as she looked back at the collapsed mass of flaming wood and stone that had once been the orchestra hall. "They do. We tried to find you guys once we dealt with the rest of the White Fang, but the smoke was too thick. We had to get out."

Ruby nodded. "Makes sense. I woke up in the rafters. Weiss was fighting that rabbit faunus, and I grabbed her and busted out the window into the bay. Almost drowned too," she finished with a chuckle.

Blake spoke up, in her usual dull monotone. "Ruby, that faunus... did he survive?"

"He _better_ not have," Ruby growled. "I kicked him into the fire myself."

The faunus nodded, then returned her gaze to the street in front of her. "I used to know him."

Yang snapped her head up. "Wait, you did? When you and... I mean... when you were part of the White Fang?"

Blake nodded. "I always knew he was a sadistic bastard, but _this_... even I don't know what they've become anymore."

"Did any of them make it out alive?" Ruby asked softly.

"No," Yang said. Her eyes burned with fury, and Ruby felt a brief wave of heat emanate from her sister. "Me and Blake killed _every single one_."

"That's good," Ruby said. She got caught up in a brief coughing fit, but when it was over, her head felt better. She thought she might even be able to stand.

The three of them, or four, if you counted a very unconscious Weiss, sat in silence. They listened to the sounds of the night: the screams of the wounded; the shouts of the firefighters and police officers; the roar of the flames; the piercing shriek of the sirens. None of them spoke. There didn't seem to be anything left to say. Maybe later, when their minds and bodies had recovered, but not now. Not while the orchestra hall still burned. Not while Weiss lay on the ground in her comatose state, wrapped in a heavy blue blanket.

Ruby was staring out beyond the flames, at the ocean, when she heard a weak, tiny voice from beside her. "Ruby?" it asked.

Ruby froze. It took her a second to realize who the voice belonged to. Then: "Weiss!"

The heiress' eyes were open, and her expression pained. The only thing Ruby wanted to do at the moment was to wrap Weiss up in a crushing hug, but she realized that would _probably _be bad for a broken leg and a lacerated side. So she settled for taking Weiss' hand, whose fingers curled around hers.

"What... what happened?" the heiress asked.

Ruby's voice hitched. "Nothing... I mean, I woke up and grabbed you before he could drop you and broke the glass and we fell into the water and then I dragged you here, and took you to the ambulance and they said you were gonna be fine but I wasn't sure and, and..." She broke off, unable to continue.

Beside her, Yang laid a hand on her shoulder. Blake looked on in silence.

Weiss smiled. Her voice was still little more than a whisper. "So... you saved me."

"Um... yeah. I guess so."

Weiss looked up at the sky, her expression turning thoughtful. After a while, she spoke again. "Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you pull me into your lap? I'm pretty sure my leg is broken."

"Well it is but... Weiss, there's people everywhere... are you sure?"

The heiress nodded, slowly. "Yes. I'm sure."

Ruby let out a tiny squeak of happiness, then grasped Weiss by the shoulders as carefully as she could. With infinite care, she lifted her girlfriend up and pulled her into her lap. The blanket slipped off while she did so. Almost immediately, Weiss closed her eyes and leaned back into her. She turned to the side with a grimace, but snuggled into the crook of Ruby's neck.

Ruby sighed, and she felt as if the world had finally returned to normal. Even through her dress, in the chill of the air, she could feel Weiss' warmth. And even though the orchestra hall still burned, she felt at peace.

Yang and Blake remained silent, but the cat faunus rested her head on her partner's shoulder, who pulled her into a one-armed embrace.

Once more they sat in silence, all of them quite happy to simply be alive.

And then off in the distance, down the near-empty street to their left, came the approaching glare of headlights. Ruby shifted her head to look at them, and Weiss, disturbed from her rest by the movement, followed her gaze.

And then seemed to shrink. "Ruby, take me off your lap. _Now_."

"Wha? What? But I-"

"Now!"

Ruby didn't question her further; Weiss sounded as serious as she had ever heard her. Gently, she lifted the heiress off of her lap and set her on the sidewalk to her left.

The headlights grew brighter, and then dimmed completely; the driver had seen them and shut them off.

Life turned back into a dream. In a daze, Ruby watched a sleek, black limousine glide down the street, and then stop directly in front of them. The stark silver hood ornament was a stylized snowflake. The exact same symbol that Weiss wore on the back of her jacket. The symbol of the Schnee Dust Corporation.

The passenger and driver doors opened in sync, and two large men in dark suits and darker sunglasses stepped out. _"Why are they wearing sunglasses at night?"_ Ruby wondered. _"This_ must_ be a dream." _One man's head was shaved, the other sported close-cut, chocolate brown hair.

The four of them watched as the two men moved to stand in front of them. They stared at Weiss for a moment, then chocolate hair spoke. His voice was a deep bass. "Mistress Schnee."

She stared back at them, her face hardened and resolute. "Yes?"

His next words hit Ruby like a hammer blow. "We're here to take you home."

It wasn't a dream anymore. They were here to take Weiss away.

Weiss sounded just as shocked as she was. "What? _No!_"

"We're under direct orders from Lord Schnee himself. If you won't come willingly, we're authorized to simply drag you there, if it comes to that." He smiled, but there was no warmth behind it. "I'd rather it not come to that."

"But it's not summer break yet! I still have a month left before I finish my third year at Beacon!"

"Believe me, Lord Schnee is quite aware of your situation. However, considering what happened tonight," he indicated the remains of the orchestra hall with a broad, sweeping gesture, "I'm sure you'll understand that he places the safety of his daughter over her studies at a _Hunting Academy_." He spoke 'Hunting Academy' as if the words left a bad taste in his mouth.

Ruby took the chance to finally speak up. "But she can't go just yet! Look at her, she needs to go to a hospital!"

The bald man looked at her like she was a particularly disgusting bug he had just found in his kitchen. "I assure you that White Castle's medical facilities are better than any you can find in Vale. She will be _fine_."

As argument after argument fell flat, Ruby looked over to Yang and Blake for help. They looked as outraged as she was, but there wasn't any point they could bring up that Weiss couldn't. It was _her_ father, after all, that was making the call. Weiss was notoriously close-lipped about her family. To everyone but Ruby, at least.

But as she looked pleadingly at Yang, she saw salvation approaching, in the form of a blue-uniformed medic from the ambulance.

"Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?" He seemed calm and collected, even when faced with two intimidating, dubiously armed men. But then again, Ruby reasoned, he was probably used to crisis situations.

"None of your business sir," chocolate hair said. "You just go back to your ambulance."

"No sir, I can't do that. It seems like you're trying to take this girl somewhere?"

Both men nodded simultaneously.

"Well you _can't_. She has a laceration on her left sternum and a broken leg. I can't let you have her before she receives proper medical care. And not wherever it is you're going. _Here_, in Vale." he finished, pointing at the ground.

Ruby sighed in relief. What could they say to that?

But they didn't say anything. The bald man simply pulled out a black cell phone. He flipped it open without looking, then hit a button. Ruby could faintly hear a ringing tone, which stopped almost as soon as it started.

A voice sounded from the speaker, but Ruby couldn't make out the words, or even the tone of the speaker. But she assumed the worst, and a leaden weight dropped into her chest.

The bald man nodded. "Yes Lord Schnee. Yes. We have a small delay. There's a man I need you to speak with, if you will."

Then he held out the phone to the medic in blue. The man stared at it for a second, then reluctantly took it. He held it up to his ear. Nobody moved. Ruby felt frozen.

Then slowly, the medic nodded. "Yes Mr. Schnee. I understand. Thank you sir. Goodnight."

He handed the phone back to the bald man, then spun on his heel and started back towards the line of emergency vehicles without a backwards glance. Ruby watched him go. That was it then. There was no stopping them now. Weiss was leaving. Who knew for how long.

But then the heiress spoke. This time, her voice was strong and clear. "I'll go with you. But on one condition."

Chocolate hair replied, his expression as neutral as ever. "That depends on the condition, Mistress Schnee."

Weiss reached over and laid her hand on Ruby's shoulder, and her heart stopped. "I'll go if I can take her with me."

Both men were silent for a moment, then looked at eachother. But then chocolate hair nodded, and Baldy pulled out the cell phone again and briskly strode to the other side of the limousine. The medic returned with a pair of crutches, and handed them to Weiss with a brief apology. Then he ran back towards the ambulance.

"Weiss..." Ruby whispered." Are you sure about this?"

The heiress simply nodded.

Ruby looked over to Yang, but the blonde too, just nodded and smiled at her. "Don't worry Ruby," Yang said, "Blake'll take care of me. You worry about your girlfriend. _Someone_ needs to."

Weiss glared at the blonde, and Ruby grinned. She really did have the best big sister.

And a few pulse-pounding moments later, Baldy stepped back around the limousine. He returned to his place beside chocolate hair, then looked at Weiss.

"She can come."

* * *

"..."

"..."

"Does it hurt?"

"Does what hurt? The broken nose or the broken leg? Or the laceration on my side?"

"Um... all three?"

Weiss smiled through the pain. "They hurt. But I'm alive."

Ruby smiled back. "That's good. I mean, crap, not good that it hurts, but good that you're alive..."

Weiss shook her head in amusement.

They sat across from eachother in the shadowed interior of the limousine, as it traveled out of the city of Vale and towards the city's air station. From there, a private airship would fly them over the ocean to a private landing pad in Atlas, where_ another _limousine would take them through the mountains, and finally to White Castle, ancestral home of the Schnee family.

Weiss had further explained that although it wasn't Schnee Dust's corporate headquarters, all the important business deals and decisions were made there. The company's actual offices were spread out through the rest of the civilized world.

Weiss stared out the window for a while, at the night-bright city sliding by. The windows were tinted, and she could see out, but no one could see in. She would have been completely comfortable then, in the privacy of the limo, if it weren't for one thing. The driver's compartment had its own window that looked back into the passenger room. The two men in front could watch them at all times. That was the reason she sat across from Ruby, and not next to her. Or in her lap.

She fingered her crutches for a while, while Ruby closed her eyes and leaned back into soft, cushioned leather. _Crutches._ She would have to use _crutches_. She hated the idea; she saw them as nothing more than a sign of weakness. And it was social suicide to show weakness when you were the daughter of one of the richest, most powerful men in the world of Remnant. It was like jumping into shark-infested waters with an open wound.

But she knew it was either the crutches or a wheelchair, and_ that_ was out of the question. And if this cloud had a silver lining, it was that the only person who had seen her with them so far was Ruby and the rest of her team. If she was lucky, she would be off them before she left White Castle.

But as for how she would be leaving White Castle...

She still planned on telling her parents about her relationship with Ruby, and her intentions to become a full-fledged huntress. To shrug off the shackles of an imminent arranged marriage, to take control of her own life and do what _she_ wanted to do. Ruby gave her the strength to do that. The strength, and more than that, the _reason_ she needed to confront her parents. She'd never had a real reason to stand up to them, no real cause to risk their wrath. Nothing that could possibly be worth the consequences. Until Ruby. Ruby was worth it.

She figured at best she would be removed from the family, and lose all the privileges and bottomless sums of money that came with it. At worst... Would they lock her up in her room? Would they keep her there, the proverbial princess locked away in the tallest tower of the castle? And what would they do to Ruby? She wondered which would anger them most. The fact that she was dating a commoner with no future and no social standing, or the fact that she was dating a girl.

Her worry must have shown on her face, because Ruby reached over and touched her hands, which were folded across her lap.

"You gonna be okay?" Ruby asked.

Ruby. Her partner. Ruby, the girl who had shown her how to live; how to laugh. The girl who had shown her how to love. The girl who had shown her a hidden strength inside that she never knew she had. Strength enough to stand up to her parents, her rulers, the _tyrants_ that had dictated every aspect of her life for the past twenty-one years. Would she be okay? She looked at Ruby, at her beloved who was smiling at her with more warmth and love than anyone ever had. Than anyone ever would.

"You know what Ruby? I think I will be," she said, and smiled back. "I think I will be."

The brunette leaned back. "Hey Weiss, weird question, but do you know how close we came to not meeting?"

"What do you mean?"

"A crack in the sidewalk."

"...What? I don't follow."

Ruby grinned, and leaned forward. "Alright so, the night Ozpin accepted me into Vale, I was walking down the street, heading home after seeing a movie. I was listening to music on my headphones, and I wasn't really paying attention so I tripped on this just completely random crack in the sidewalk. I almost fell." She chuckled. "Maybe I really am a klutz."

Weiss smiled. "As if that wasn't already evident."

"So anyway, I almost trip, and it knocks me out of this little trance I get into while I'm walking and listening to music. So all of a sudden I snap out of that trance and actually look around, you know like, _really_ look around. And there's this random dust store I've never seen before with some new weapons magazines in the window. And I figure, hey, why not go in and check it out? Not like I've got anything better to do."

"Wait," Weiss asked, "is that the store where you fought Torchwick, met Ozpin, and got accepted into Beacon?"

Ruby grinned. "Yeap," popping the 'p'.

"So... if you hadn't tripped on that crack in the sidewalk..."

"Exactly. I'd have never gone in the store, never met Ozpin, never got into Beacon, and probably, never met _you_."

Weiss stared at her partner, trying to find some uplifting message or encouragement in Ruby's story, but failing. "Well... do you have a point? I mean honestly, that kind of makes me nervous. That we came so close to never meeting, I mean."

"Do you believe in fate? Or, or destiny?" Ruby asked.

Weiss frowned in contemplation. Then: "No, I don't think I do. I think we make our own choices, that we create our own path through life. If destiny was real, then mine is just to take over Schnee Dust, and run the company just like my father did. If destiny was real, I'd marry some random man with good social standing and a lot of money. If destiny was real... I don't think we'd be together."

Ruby nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense. I honestly like to believe that we're fated to reach certain points in our lives, that it's our destiny to have to make certain choices and decisions. But I like to think that the choices we make, and the consequences we live with are completely our own."

Weiss couldn't help but smile at her naivety. "That's a pretty idealistic view of life."

Ruby smiled back. "Better than the alternative though, huh?"

"The alternative?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah you know, like it being your destiny to take over Schnee Dust. I think you're fated to make the choice, to take it over or not. But I believe the choice is completely up to you."

"That's... interesting," Weiss said. She rested her chin on her palm. "You know, thinking about it like that... it doesn't seem so bad all of a sudden. This is going to be hard. No way around it. And it probably won't end well."

Ruby reached over and took her hand. "Well you know whatever happens, I'll still be here. If they disown you or whatever, we can just go live in some cool log cabin in the mountains or something. Just be huntresses, ya know?"

Weiss smiled. "That doesn't sound too bad, y_a know_?"

"Hey, don't mock me!"

"Well someone has to. Might as well be me."

Ruby frowned in mock hurt and folded her arms across her chest. "Man, you can be such a jerk sometimes. Here I am trying to be all nice, and you go and make fun of the way I talk." A small grin broke through the frown though, Ruby was never very good at frowning.

"Well maybe you should change your speech patterns then," Weiss said in mock anger. "Maybe stop talking like a brain-dead teenager."

"But I _am_ a teenager still!"

"Oh that's right," Weiss chucked, "I forgot. I'm partners with a brain-dead teenager who should have just graduated from Signal."

"And I'm partners with a stuck-up jerk who thinks money solves everything."

Weiss smiled at her, mouthing the words 'I love you,' so that the men listening in wouldn't hear.

Ruby grinned and leaned back into the seat. She mouthed the words back.

"But seriously Ruby, thank you for saving my life tonight."

The brunette shrugged. "When I told you I'd never let you go, I meant it."

Weiss' smile grew, despite the pain in her side and leg. "I know."

And as they spoke, the black limousine glided through the dark, drawing ever closer to White Castle. Closer, closer, closer.

* * *

_**The lyrics at the beginning are from 'Dreams' by We Came As Romans. Leave a review, if you feel so inclined. It always makes my day.**_


	12. Chapter 10 - Sleepwalking

_**My secrets are burning a hole through my heart**_  
_** And my bones catch a fever**_  
_** When it cuts you up this deep**_  
_** It's hard to find a way to breathe**_

_** Your eyes are swallowing me**_  
_** Mirrors start to whisper**_  
_** Shadows start to sing**_  
_** My skin's smothering me**_  
_** Help me find a way to breathe**_

_** Time stood still**_  
_** The way it did before**_  
_** It's like I'm sleepwalking**_  
_** Fell into another hole again**_  
_** It's like I'm sleepwalking**_

_** I'm at the edge of the world**_  
_** Where do I go from here?**_  
_** Do I disappear?**_  
_** Edge of the world**_  
_** Should I sink or swim?**_  
_** Or simply disappear?**_

_** Your eyes are swallowing me**_  
_** Mirrors start to whisper**_  
_** Shadows start to sing**_  
_** My skin's smothering me**_  
_** Help me find a way to breathe**_

_**Wake up!**_  
_** Take my hand and**_  
_** Give me a reason to start again**_  
_** Wake up!**_  
_** Pull me out and**_  
_** Give me a reason to start again**_

_**Time stood still**_  
_** The way it did before**_  
_** It's like I'm sleepwalking**_

* * *

To Ruby, Atlas seemed old.

Ancient even, as they drove through its countryside on the way to White Castle. The castle itself was in the northern part of the water-locked kingdom, surrounded by mountains and forests and villages that seemed like something out of a fairy-tale. Everything was made of old, dark wood and cobbled stone. She swore she even saw a hut or two with a straw roof.

As they drove through yet another frost-bitten, shadowy forest, Ruby found herself musing that she wouldn't be surprised if there were a group of horse-borne knights around the bend waiting to make them pay a toll to use the road. A toll for an actual King.

Those days were long past, but this kingdom still seemed to exist in them. Like an old man feebly clutching at the last strings of life, this ancient, snow-covered realm did not want to let go of the past.

The road was half-covered in snow, and the forests were blanketed in it. Fresh white powder, unstained and unsullied by any footstep, glimmered and sparkled whenever the sun saw fit to shine through the patchwork clouds drifting across the white-grey sky. The branches and trunks of the trees were coated in frost that made them twinkle as they passed by. The only patches of color were of winter wildflowers that lined the road in patches, and vast evergreen trees of deep green. In a world where the other kingdoms were in the midst of summer, Atlas was in the throes of a jagged gorgeous winter.

"It's so pretty..." Ruby whispered. Her face was pressed up against the window of the limousine, and she heard Weiss chuckle behind her.

"If you were a faunus, you'd definitely be a puppy," the heiress said. "You'd have cute little ears, and a cute little tail..."

Ruby turned back around, facing away from the window and meeting Weiss' blush with a grin. "And I'd wag my cute little tail whenever I saw you. And I've give you lots of slobbery kisses."

"Hmm." Weiss tapped her chin. "Would I get to take you for walks?"

"Of course! I'd even let you put a collar on me. It would say 'Property of Weiss Schnee.' "

Weiss blushed even deeper, and tried to hide it by taking a sip of the coffee from the machine in the back of the limo. "I wouldn't be particularly opposed to that..." she muttered.

Ruby smiled at her for a second, but then a shadow flickered across her face and her smile fell. "You're sure you can't sit over here with me?"

"_So_ like a puppy," Weiss laughed. "But sorry, no. Can't risk it." She pointed her thumb in the direction of the driver's compartment. "And I should probably warn you. When we're in Glasieren we'll-"

"Wait, glasa-what now?" Ruby asked.

"Glass, eye, ren. It's the town at the foot of the mountain that White Castle is on."

"Glasieren, huh. Does the mountain have a funny name too?"

"That depends on if you find the name Aüsgefranst to be humorous or not."

Judging by Ruby's snort of laughter, she did. "Where do you guys come up with these names?"

Weiss frowned, slightly miffed that Ruby was making fun of her heritage. "It's simply the old language of the Atlesians. Glasieren means frost, and Aüsgefranst means jagged."

"Oh. Well I guess that makes sense. Does anyone still use the language?"

Weiss shook her head. "Outside of ceremonial purposes, no."

Ruby nodded, then turned her head to look back out of the window. They were traveling through an open expanse of rolling hills now, endless snow-covered mounds undulating like waves in the open ocean. It struck the brunette as bleak and empty, compared to the beautiful forests they had left behind.

* * *

A comfortable silence fell, and at first Weiss was content to relax and enjoy the ride, shifting slightly to take pressure off of her broken knee. Which, it might be said, was starting to hurt like a bitch. The painkillers in the limousines first aid kit were wearing off. And as the silence grew, the heiress felt her anxiety grow with it. Soon enough there was a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she started to feel restless. She sipped her coffee with one hand, the other tapping a repetitive beat on the leather beside her. In the absence of any sound aside from the quiet rumbling of the limousine, the tapping seemed deafening in the confined space.

She began to have doubts.

The rational side of her mind warred with the emotional side, arguing that nothing, not even Ruby, was worth losing all of the power and money that was her rightful inheritance. It wasn't worth risking her parent's wrath; it wasn't worth giving up Schnee Dust for. How could one person be worth giving up an entire company, especially one that happened to have a monopoly on the most important resource in the world?

And the other part of her mind gazed at Ruby and the tiny smile on her face, as the brunette gazed out on the frozen landscape passing by. And surprisingly, she thought of a quote, one that was etched on the statue of a giant silver knight that guarded her family's estate.

"Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form or measure. And all of it… irreplaceable," she whispered to herself, so quietly that even Ruby couldn't hear.

Weiss had always been a logical person. And going by that logic, if everyone is entitled their own sorrow, then the reverse is true, and everyone is also entitled their own happiness. Some people were still searching for theirs, for their purpose, something that gave them true happiness and satisfaction. Something that at the end of the day, they could think about, and say 'it was all worth it.'

She didn't have to search anymore. She had already found her happiness. Or more accurately, it had found her. How impossibly lucky was that? Was she really going to give up her chance at happiness in this life for a company? For a soulless entity that cared about nothing more than profits and expenses?

The way she looked at it, she had two choices. To be happy and poor with Ruby, or to be unhappy, successful, and rich without her. There were really no other deciding factors.

Her decision was made when Ruby caught her eye by shifting, glancing at her crutches, and frowning.

The brunette had saved her life. She obviously cared for her more than anyone else ever had. Weiss knew she had found someone precious, someone that couldn't be replicated in a billion years. Someone that couldn't be replaced. A job could be replaced. Money could be replaced. A home could be replaced. But not Ruby.

She sighed, and a tight smile graced the corners of her mouth. Not Ruby.

"Oh, hey Weiss! I forgot to tell you something earlier."

And just like that, the heiress found herself slipping back into Ruby's voice, which so easily soothed her mind.

"I was just browsing some random stuff on my scroll, and I got a little curious when I saw this article on different types of sexuality."

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry it's nothing bad!" Ruby held up her hands in self-defense. "It was just interesting. So I found out there's lots of different types of sexualities, more than just, you know, straight or gay. There's asexual, which means that you don't really feel attracted to anybody. Well, in most cases, there were exceptions and stuff."

"Are you going anywhere in particular with this Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah! Geez, you didn't let me finish. Anyway, there's this thing you can be called demiromantic, or demisexual. It means you only feel attracted to someone once you've... oh, what did it say? 'Once a reasonably stable or large emotional connection has been created,' I think that was it."

Weiss frowned. "And your point?"

"Well... I think that's why you never... liked anyone before me. I'm pretty sure you're just demisexual. Or demiromantic. Or whatever."

Weiss considered the implications. "So, basically... you're saying the reason I was never attracted to anyone before you is because I... never formed a strong emotional relationship with them?"

"I guess?" Ruby shrugged. "I dunno, I guess it sounded better in my head."

"No, that actually makes sense. Demiromantic huh?"

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. She smiled and glanced out the window, where stands of trees were beginning to appear in the midst of the hills, like green polka dots on a white sweater. "I thought it sounded kinda cool. And it really does make sense, if you think about it."

"And there's something I was going to tell _you_ earlier too, before you interrupted me about why things are named funny here."

Ruby turned back to face the heiress with a grin. "Well it _is_ a funny name."

Weiss couldn't help but grin back. "Regardless, I was going to tell you that you'll have to be on your absolute_ best_ behavior in Glasieren. Like I said before, it's at the foot of the mountain that hosts White Castle, and it was one of the only places I was allowed to go while I was growing up."

Ruby frowned. "Yeesh, that's harsh."

"What I mean, Ruby, is that _everyone_ knows me there. I maintained a sort of anonymity in Vale, but it's different here. There's not a person in that town that doesn't know what I look like. And I'm not saying that they don't like me or that they're out to get me, but if they see you holding hands with me or anything like that, word will spread, fast. And then it'll spread to my _father_, before I have a chance to tell him myself. He won't like that. This will probably go a lot smoother if he finds out about us from me first."

Ruby crossed her arms, pouting. "Eh, that makes sense. I don't like it, but it makes sense. I'll just have to find somewhere quiet to kiss you then."

Suddenly she froze and brought her hands to her mouth. "Oh crap, did they hear?!" she whispered, pointing towards the driver's compartment.

Weiss merely chuckled. "Relax Ruby, it's soundproof. They can see us, they just can't hear us. My father respects at least _some_ of my privacy."

Ruby still didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but how can you be sure?"

"I've been riding in these things my entire life dolt. They're all made to the exact same specifications. My father wouldn't have it any other way."

At the continued mentions of her father, Weiss felt her the return of her earlier anxiety. She felt her fingers start to tap a beat into the leather again, and she didn't stop them.

Ruby watched her fingers for a second, then frowned. "Still nervous?" she asked.

Weiss simply nodded.

"I would ask you if you still wanted to do this," Ruby continued, "but I know how stubborn you are. Once you've made up your mind, you wouldn't go back on it if someone held a gun to your head."

Weiss smirked. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that then." She glanced down at her feet for a few seconds, then back up. Her tone was much more gentle this time. "Ruby, why do you love me?"

Ruby cocked her head to the side. "Why... why do I love you?"

Weiss nodded, her fingers still drumming rhythmically to the invisible beat in her mind.

"Well..." Ruby started off, eyes locked on the floor. She talked with her hands as much as her words, waving them in the air to emphasize her points. "You're the most beautiful girl I've ever met, like by far, _aaa_nd you're really smart, and super strong, on the inside mostly_ haha_, _aaa_nd you know how to do a lot of really cool things... your fashion sense is the best I've ever seen... but those aren't really the reasons you're looking for, are you?"

Weiss frowned, but nodded again.

There was a pause of silence, and then Ruby continued. "I think the reason I really, _really love_ you, and not just love you, is because you have this... I don't know, I guess this other person inside of you? Ugh, I'm having trouble putting this into words. "

Ruby stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "Alright, so you've got this front, this person that you act like. Weiss Schnee, heiress to Schnee Dust, blah blah blah, all prim and proper, and you get angry with people real easily and you don't trust anyone but yourself, and you act really arrogant and stuck up. Weiss Schnee is kind of a jerk, basically. She's built up this wall around herself, and doesn't let anyone get close, and it's kinda off-putting."

Weiss felt her frown deepen. Hearing Ruby talk like this wasn't doing wonders for her anxiety.

But then a broad grin stretched across Ruby's face. "But that's not the real you. The real you is _behind_ that wall, and she's sweet, and caring, and kind, and such an incredibly beautiful person that it makes it hard for me to breathe sometimes. _That's_ the real you."

Ruby smiled at her with all the warmth in the world, and Weiss felt her heart flutter and her throat tighten.

"And it's not your fault in any way at all. It says a lot about you, that you can even let the real you out after the way you've been raised. Your parents tried to turn you into this... this robot, but they couldn't change the real you. The real you has _so_ much love in her... and I think you just needed to find a way to let it out. And so that's why I love you. I love that I can be that person, the one that you can give that love too. And it's kinda selfish, I know, but I'm _really_ glad that I'm the only one that gets to see _just_ how beautiful and amazing the real you actually is."

Ruby sat back, and released a pent-up breath. "So yeah, I love you. And that's why. Did that make sense?"

Weiss felt her heart break, in the best way possible. It didn't hurt; it was like it broke open and filled her body with such an incredible warmth and feeling of closeness with Ruby that she never wanted it to end. She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes, and as she reached up to wipe them off with the corner of her sleeve, she realized Ruby was still waiting for an answer, with that same honest smile.

So Weiss gave the only answer she could at the time. She smiled, closed her eyes, and nodded.

She wanted to touch Ruby, to feel her warmth and her skin on her own, and it was tantamount to torture that she couldn't. So, subconsciously, her aura reached out for her. It met Ruby's with an infinite, all-encompassing embrace, one that sent fire shooting up her spine. In her mind's eye, she saw white weaving in with red and swirling around it in the endless ocean of soulspace, forming a whole that floated in an abyss of emptiness. Alone in the abyss, the entity that was two parts and a single whole at the same time existed with a simple fragility that seemed to her the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

A pervasive sense of calm and deep content filled her, and she hummed softly. She could see Ruby felt it too, given how the younger girl's mouth turn into an 'o' as she gripped her knees with her hands.

Her anxiety faded, as did the burning pain in her knee and the dull ache in her side. She and Ruby both sighed at the same time, then looked at eachother.

The brunette started giggling, and Weiss found that her laughter was horribly infectious. Within a few seconds they were nearly doubled over. Neither knew exactly what they were laughing at, but they were laughing at it together.

They were together, and that was all they needed to be happy.

Weiss realized that finally, the thought coming to her like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She knew that she would give up everything she had to be with Ruby.

And so she prepared herself to do so. Because even if she lost it all, if she had Ruby, she would be happy.

The brunette's rich laughter, mingling with her own higher-pitched giggles, told her so.

But as Ruby smiled at her one last time, and then returned to watching Atlas glide by outside, a thought occurred to her. It was a nagging sensation, one that wouldn't leave her alone. She decided to give voice to her worries; perhaps that would negate them.

"Ruby... there is something I'm worried about. Something else besides my parents."

"Yeah?" Ruby asked. "What is it?"

"I... sometimes, when I'm back in that place... I feel like my old self. It happens every time I go home, I start to slip back into my old ways, I guess. I feel so cold there, and it somehow... reflects onto my personality. Have you ever noticed that I acted different when I came back to Beacon after summer break?"

"Well... now that you mention it, yeah. You're always kind of a jerk for a little while, but after a week or two you're always back to normal. I dunno, I don't think this'll be a problem Weiss. I'm here too."

"And_ that's_ why I'm worried. I don't want to treat you like my servants or my family; I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to shut you out."

Ruby smiled gently to try and reassure her. "I think you'll be fine Weiss. You're stronger than that."

Weiss stared out the window at the landscape of snow and ice, and drummed the fingers of her free hand on the leather.

_"If only you knew Ruby... if only you knew..."_

* * *

Ruby felt as if she was in a dream world.

The limousine had been traveling steady upwards for the past hour, up a series of twisting switchbacks - built wide enough even for the limo - that led higher and higher into the mountains. They had passed by Glasieren a few hours earlier, taking the long route around the town and up into the mountains. They were already impossibly high up, past the treeline, now among the clouds that drifted beside them and obscured their vision. The only vegetation she could see were hardy shrubs that clung to the mountainside with an incredible tenacity. She could only imagine how cold it must be outside; she could hear the wind whipping against the side of the vehicle.

And for some reason, even though they were closer than ever to White Castle, Weiss was smiling.

"Ruby, if these clouds would only part..."

"What, is the view that great?" Ruby asked.

"It's _breathtaking_. One of the only things I miss about home."

The brunette felt the vehicle level out, and for a while they drove straight, over what looked to be the open plateau of a mountain-top. But mountain peaks weren't naturally level like this. Someone had to _make_ it so.

The road they were on was paved, made of grey stone, and immaculate. Ruby thought of the time and money it must have taken to build something like this so high up, where the oxygen was thin and the temperatures capable of causing frostbite.

"Did you family build all this?" Ruby asked. She was in awe. "Level out this mountain peak and everything?"

Weiss nodded, and there was pride in her face. "It was built, and is maintained by my family. Well, their employees, to be more accurate. We've never spared any expense to impress."

"Obviously not," Ruby breathed. The clouds parted to their left and right, treating them to a view of stark white mountain ranges stretching out as far as the eye could see. The mountain peaks seemed to pierce the heavens; they thrust that high into the sky. The snow around them was more pristine than Ruby had ever seen snow, or even thought it capable of being. Where the sun shone through the clouds that drifted among them, it shone like a thousand sparkling diamonds. "This is surreal..."

"Oh, you think this is impressive?" Weiss said with a smirk. "You haven't even seen _Der Turm Weiße_ yet."

"Der Turm... Weiss?" Ruby asked.

"Wise-eh. It's more Atlesian. My name means white in that language, did you know?"

"So... _Der Turm Weiße_... the white castle?"

"More like the tower of white, but that works too. Everyone just calls it White Castle nowadays; it's obviously a lot easier to say."

"I'll say," Ruby huffed. "You Atlesians and your crazy names. I'll bet this limo is named Der Weinerschnitzelmobile or something."

Weiss laughed. "Have you ever even had schnitzel?"

"No!" Ruby replied, turning to look out the window again. "But I know that... that..." Ruby stuttered, unable to speak.

They had breached the final layer of cloud, and were above them now. And her breath had been stolen away by the sight before her.

* * *

They called the mountain Aüsgefranst, or jagged. It certainly was.

The peak itself was split into two large pieces, one being the flattened plateau they were on, and the other a towering spire that stretched up impossibly high. But that wasn't what had taken Ruby's breath away.

What did _that_, was the towering structure built into and around the spire of rock.

A magnificent citadel of white stone, so high up that instead of being highlighted against the backdrop of a blue sky, it was set against the vista of the dark, almost black upper reaches of the atmosphere, which in turn was bespeckled by stars. Shades of white and black warred with eachother in the sky, the achromacy of the stars and the castle competing against the black of the void to draw Ruby's eye. White Castle, or _Der Turm Weiße_, stood out against the stark blackness of the stratosphere: a monstrous ivory tower laid out on the silky darkness of space.

The bottom sections - of what Ruby thought would more be more properly called a fortress - appeared to be a concentric ring of massive, crenelated walls, topped with imposing battlements and jagged spires. Heavily armored windows with iron bars over them shone into the night, the light from within mirroring the light of the stars. Triangular banners on the walls and towers flapped in the wind, bearing the Schnee family crest against a pale blue background.

The upper sections of _Der Turm Weiße _rose higher and higher, finally meeting and terminating in one colossal, sky-shattering tower that rose out of the peak itself. The tower was at the center of the castle, and must have stretched at least forty stories high. It was octagonal, the edges harsh and jagged. The top of the tower was tipped by spires of harsh white stone set at regular intervals, so that it appeared as if it were wearing a crown.

The only apparent way to the castle was over a long bridge that connected the two halves of the mountain peak. It started at the end of the plateau they were driving across, and stretched out for almost a thousand metres over empty space, white fog, and the roof of the clouds, far, far below. The bridge was wide and long, made of solid grey stone. Giant flaming braziers of iron and steel were staggered every hundred metres or so, on both sides of the bridge. Ruby couldn't figure out how they managed to keep them lit so high up, where the air was so thin and cold.

The more she took in, the more the brunette didn't believe her eyes. A castle, no, a _citadel_ at the top of the world, stretching out into the vastness of space and challenging it, shouting into the void. _We are here, we own this world, and we will not be ignored!_

She heard Weiss clear her throat, and she reluctantly pulled her gaze away from the sight presented by the frost-edged windows of the limousine. The heiress was staring at her expectantly, as if she was expecting Ruby's judgement of her home.

"Umm... wow."

The heiress sighed. "Normally in this kind of situation, I would say that my house isn't that big of a deal, but..."

"Yeah..." Ruby breathed. "No way you can say that now. I mean holy crap! You grew up here!? Weren't you afraid of like, falling up into space, or, or falling down off the mountain! This place is crazy!"

Weiss rested her chin on the palm of her hand and shrugged. "People have called it lots of things before, but crazy is a first."

"Well, it's like a freakin' fortress! Is your Dad expecting to fight off a few armies anytime soon?"

"Not that I know of, but he likes to be prepared for everything." Under her breath, she muttered: _"Let's see if he's prepared for this."_

* * *

Instead of pulling into a cul-de-sac in front of the castle, like Ruby had expected - because mansions _always_ had cul-de-sacs in front of them - they drove through a massive gate where the front door should have been. The doors, made of some unknown, imposing metal and inlaid with gold, somehow managed to be imposing and extravagant at the same time. If Ruby had to guess the material it was made of, she would have said titanium. Titanium sounded right. The citadel-castle combined opulence, dignity, and the appearance of invulnerability like nothing Ruby had ever seen. There was somehow nothing fragile about even the most ornate of its features.

The large gate revealed a dim, rectangular tunnel, which eventually led to an expansive subterranean plaza. The large underground space was lit by the same massive braziers Ruby had seen on the bridge, but these ones blazed with a pale blue flame. At the opposite end of the plaza from the tunnel was another set of massive doors, made of dark wood engraved with silver. The silver tracing actually made up a mural, the scenes depicted on it ranging from a man inspecting a dust crystal with a critical eye, to armored men with shining swords battling rampant lions.

The limousine slid to a stop in front of the gates, which then opened without a sound. Five men stepped out, one in white, and the rest in black.

The man in white opened their door. "Mistress Schnee, Miss Rose, guten abend , and welcome to _Der Turm Weiße_."

The butler – at least, Ruby presumed he was a butler – stepped away from the limousine to give them space to exit, then shook their hands cordially. He was middle-aged, balding, but his white suit was ornate and undoubtedly expensive, with gold trim and shining silver buttons.

The way he was dressed made Ruby glad that there had been spare changes of clothes in the limo. It had been admittedly tense, as both girls blushed and looked off to the side as they changed, but at least now they looked presentable.

The four men with him were armed, and Ruby assumed they were a security team. They were dressed identically to the men in the limo, and bore sophisticated looking assault rifles and incredibly serious expressions. And giant poles up their asses, Ruby thought with a snort. She wondered how much they were paid.

"Thank you Albrecht," Weiss said, her voice dragging Ruby back to the present. Somehow, even with her crutches, her crooked nose, and her scar, she was the epitome of dignity and authority. "I assume my father wants to see me immediately?"

The azure light from the braziers reflected from Weiss' hair in a strange manner, coloring the ivory tresses the same shade as her eyes for a brief moment. Blue eyes, blue hair. The moment was surreal as Ruby held her breath, awaiting the butler's response.

"Alas, he is actually away from the castle. He is on a business trip to Vacuo, you see, and shan't return for several days at the least."

Ruby caught a visible flicker of relief on her partner's face, but it was incredibly brief. The heiress seemed colder, and harder than Ruby was used to. Her face was impassive and stoic, and her posture was ramrod-straight. Well, as straight as she could make it while being forced to lean on her crutches.

"And my mother?"

"She accompanied him, as a matter of course."

"Very well," Weiss continued. "I remember my home quite well, and I will be able to find the medical facilities quite fine on my own. Is Dr. Brandt in?

"Yes Mistress."

"Good. After we stop there, I will show Miss Rose here to her room, and I presume that dinner is being held at the normal time?"

"As always, precisely six o' clock in the evening, yes Mistress Schnee."

"Very well. Our weapons, my rapier and her scythe, are both inside the car. Have them taken to our respective rooms, then you are excused. Miss Rose, if you would follow me?"

Miss Rose. Not Ruby, Miss Rose. For some reason, the brunette didn't like the sound of that.

Weiss gestured through the open gates, eyes hard and face expressionless, and then she strode into _Der Turm Weiße. _Ruby took a deep breath, her exhale misting in the thin, freezing air, and followed.

* * *

They walked side by side through the empty, cold hallways of _Der Turm Weiße. _

Ruby had expected the citadel-castle to be busy, bustling with people even, as they rushed back and forth to keep the massive machine that was Schnee Dust running smoothly.

But everywhere they went, they saw no one. The rooms they passed through, while ornately decorated, were dark and vacant. The prevalent color scheme appeared to be white and blue, but the lack of light turned everything into a muted grey. Shadows clung to the corners and the ceiling, hid behind the white leather couches and plush armchairs, lurked under wooden desks and in the empty caverns of unused fireplaces.

"Why is this place so... dark?" Ruby asked.

Weiss kept her head forward as she crutched. Her face was still impassive, but flickered from place to place as if she was reliving old memories. Bad ones.

"Because light is a waste," she responded. "To my parents, at least. Why illuminate unused rooms when it costs money to do so? You have to understand Ruby, everything is a cost-to-benefit ratio to them. There's no benefit to lighting an empty room, so they don't pay the cost for it."

"Yeah but... I dunno, this place just feels so... empty. It makes it seems kinda creepy and old."

"It _is_ old. My great-great-great grandfather build the foundations and the lower levels, and my great-great grandfather build the upper levels and the tower. This hallway we're in is probably at least three hundred years old."

"Wow..." Ruby breathed. "Why does it need to be so big though? Are you guys like, constructing an army of giant robots in here or something?"

Weiss didn't so much as smirk at the brunette's attempted joke. She didn't call Ruby a dolt, or a dunce, or have a witty comeback prepared. She simply continued talking about the castle as if she was a tour guide who had done this a thousand times before. And that was how Ruby knew something was wrong. How she knew that Weiss _really_ didn't want to be here.

"The lower levels, constructed by August Schnee as his personal residence, contain the lobby, the grand hall, a ballroom, an opera hall, countless guest rooms and offices, the servant's quarters, the kitchens," she paused and took a deep breath, then continued. "A swimming pool, a gym, an indoor running track, the gardens, the-"

"Wait wait wait," Ruby interjected. "The _gardens_? You have an indoor garden?"

"Yes, I _just_ said that. Finally, the lower levels contain a bar, a full-efficiency laundry room, the wine cellar, the grand library, the-"

"Why is it grand?"

"Ruby, shut _up_ and let me finish."

The brunette squeaked and clasped her hands behind her back as she walked.

"Ugh, where was I... the grand library... oh, a music room, the sitting room, various lounges, and finally, the sun room."

Ruby kept silent now, simply following Weiss, behind and to the right of her partner. The walls of the hallway they walked along were lined with what looked like torches, but they were capped by ornate lightbulbs instead of flame. They were still quite dim though, and didn't do much to illuminate their surroundings as they walked.

The brunette stared at the walls, wondering why they were made of white stone and not something more inviting, like simple plaster. There were large paintings here and there, as well as portraits of very old looking people that Ruby didn't recognize.

_"Oh, probably Weiss' forefathers," _Ruby thought to herself._ "Man, this place feels so big and empty... I wish Weiss would talk to me more, but she's been really quiet lately. This place is probably getting to her. Hell, it's even getting to me!"_

Her eyes traveled from the old landscape paintings on the wall, to the shadowy ceiling, to the marble floor, and finally back to Weiss, who was still crutching along. And then she noticed the faint glow of illumination ahead. It excited her, she wanted to get out of the doom and gloom that was already so prevalent in this house. Weiss glared and huffed in exasperation as Ruby overtook her, borne ahead by the incredible power of two working legs.

They cleared the hallway and emerged into a massive room, sporting two curving staircases that led up to a second level that ringed the first.

"The grand foyer," Weiss explained. The twin staircases were on their left, and the heiress pointed to a set of large wooden doors to their right. "That's the actual front door, but my parents only use it when we have guests to impress. Otherwise we use the underground entrance, which is obviously much more secure."

"Well it's certainly... impressive," Ruby said.

The two staircases wrapped around either side of a statue that seemed to demand her attention. A man in shining steel armor of the knightly days, with a gleaming longsword in one hand and a bright blue dust crystal in the other.

"Someone you know?" Ruby asked.

"August Schnee, the one who built these sections of the castle."

"Ah." Ruby replied. A silence fell between them, and it wasn't exactly comfortable. The brunette took the opportunity to further examine the room.

The floors were black and white marble, and while the room was comparatively much better lit - courtesy of a massive, incredibly expensive looking chandelier - than any other room Ruby had seen so far, it was still dim, and the corners of the room were shrouded in shadow. The walls were white, the columns along the walls were white, the ceiling was white, the stairs were white; _everything_ was so _white_. Ruby had never seen so much of it, and never realized how so much of that one color – or lack of color, if you were being technical – could bleach the life from everything.

_"No wonder Weiss is so withdrawn and serious all the time..."_ Ruby thought._ "I'd go crazy if I had to live here."_

The heiress cleared her throat, and it sounded impossibly loud in the bitter silence of the cavernous room. "Ruby, if you're ready to move on? I'd like to show you more of the lower levels before we have to deal with Dr. Brandt."

"You don't want to get your leg and side looked at?"

"Ruby, I can _handle_ it. The pain's nothing I haven't dealt with before. And like I said, I really don't want to deal with Dr. Brandt."

Ruby frowned. "Well what's so bad about him?"

"Her. And she's a more of a stuck-up bitch than I am."

"Yeesh, how is that even possible?" Ruby laughed.

Weiss simply glared at her in response.

The brunette gulped, and looked somewhere, anywhere else. Anywhere that wasn't Weiss really.

Her eyes were drawn to the staircases, and then up further, at a large, no, _massive_ set of stairs on the second level that led out of the room and even further up, up into shadows that she couldn't see past.

"Hey, Weiss?"

"_What_ Ruby."

"Uh, where does that big staircase go? The one up past the statue?"

Weiss followed her gaze. "Oh. That staircase. It goes to the upper levels."

Ruby was slow in asking: "What's up there?" She was hesitant because Weiss had been unusually snappy and frigid lately. She was starting to take up her old moniker of Ice Queen again.

"Up there?" Weiss frowned. "My room, for one. My parent's rooms, my father's offices, among other things."

"Oh... Is my room on the upper or lower levels?"

"Ruby, I already told you the guest bedrooms are down here."

"Yeah but... are you gonna be alright? We'll have to sleep alone?"

Weiss stared at her, her gaze dripping with contempt and disbelief. "Are you _seriously_ that naive? You think I'm going to fall apart without you or something? Stop being so clingy. You're lucky I even brought you here in the first place." She huffed. "Now come on dolt, I'll show you your room."

The heiress turned around, her crutches making loud clacking noises on the marble floor, and started off down a hallway opposite the one they had came out of.

And Ruby followed behind. But this time, she kept a little more space between them. This time, there was a frown on her face and a slight pang in her heart. Because when Weiss had called her a dolt, it had been different than all the other times.

She had said it like she meant it. There was no warmth behind it. She had made it _sting_.

* * *

Weiss crutched on, ahead of Ruby. For some reason, she didn't want to be near the brunette right now.

With her incessant attention and constant asking of 'are you okay,' she was starting to remind Weiss of her old servants. The ones that only cared because it meant a paycheck. The ones that she knew secretly loathed her. Maybe that was just her paranoia talking, but it seemed like Ruby was becoming just like all the others. All the others, who wanted to take advantage of her and leave her in the dirt. Like her parents. Like her old _friends_.

She reached the door to Ruby's guest room, but instead of entering, the brunette stood outside the door, staring at her. There was a question in her eyes, and Weiss didn't necessarily want to hear it.

If it was 'Are you alright...'

She didn't know how she would respond. She could feel the ice wall building up around her heart again, as her brain whispered in her ear, telling her Ruby was a liar, a cheat, yet another person who was only with her for her status and her wealth.

And right now, _Der Turm Weiße_'s frigid chill was sapping her energy and her will. Right now, she didn't have the strength to tell that voice 'no'.

* * *

They stood outside of the door to the room Ruby would be staying in. The brunette fingered the doorknob, the cold metal sending a chill up her arm and down her spine. And that chill was only deepened by the look in Weiss' eyes.

The heiress stared at her, uncaring, unfeeling. Her eyes were frost-bitten and hard, bitter with the weight of heritage and duty. But the worst part about them, to Ruby, was that they weren't the eyes she had come to know. They were the eyes of the old Weiss, the one she had met at Beacon three years ago. The Weiss that genuinely despised her and thought nothing more of her than a failure.

"Weiss... are you alright?"

The heiress' eyes visibly flared with anger, and her scar twitched. "Am I alright? Who do you think you're talking to? I'm the heiress of the _entire_ Schnee dynasty. I'm _always_ alright."

Ruby frowned. "Weiss, that's crap and you know it. You've been acting all weird since we got here, like you used to back when we first met. It's like you've... I dunno, forgotten me or something."

"How could I forget you? You're standing right here, being as annoying as ever," Weiss scoffed. She brushed a strand of her hair off to the side, then continued. "And you've been acting different too. You won't stop pestering me and bugging me, and honestly I just need to be alone for a while."

That stung. "You need to... be a-alone? But you can always talk to me! I'm your best friend!"

Weiss stomped her foot down. "Well sometimes you just get a little bit too in my face with it! Ooh, look at me I'm Ruby Rose. I'm so perfect, I never get mad or angry at anyone and I've just got such a fucking big heart that you could drive a semi into it."

"That's not fair Weiss!" Ruby nearly yelled. The sound of her voice was like a blast of lightning in the empty air of the castle. "I've never been _anything_ but nice to you, and tried to treat you the best I could because I know how you grew up, I know it sucks, and I know you need a friend!"

"Oh I know, you're so perfect inside that it hurts! And sure you want to be my friend and girlfriend and all that crap, but maybe I just want that _friend_ to not be so inanely pushy about being one! Can you just back off for five minutes?!"

"Why would I back off from the person I love when she obviously needs help!? You know you're being a real jerk all of a sudden!"

Weiss leaned forward on her crutches. "Oh I'm being a jerk huh? I'm the one with the broken knee, and nose, and the lacerated side – no thanks to you! - and yet I'm the jerk here? If you hadn't rushed off towards that stage like the colossal idiot you are, I'd be completely fine!"

Ruby raised her voice to match Weiss', and it echoed down the otherwise empty hallway. "You weren't mad at me for that before! I saved your freaking life! Now just..." She took a deep breath, attempted to calm herself. "Tell me what's really wrong. Is it this place?"

"This _place_?" Weiss asked? "What's wrong with my family's ancestral home huh? It's certainly a far sight more dignified than any place _you've_ ever lived in."

Ruby felt her anger rise, and she pushed herself off of the wall and got in Weiss' face. "Weiss, just stop insulting me for one second and tell me what's wrong! You told me you would get like this, but that doesn't excuse what you're doing right now! What the hell is wrong?!"

Weiss leaned forward to match her, their faces inches apart. "Oh you want to know what's wrong? Well I've got an annoying, asinine _failure_ of a huntress in my face, who won't just shut up and get in her room! While she's in _my_ house! Get in the room, and stay there!"

"Stop telling me what to do," Ruby screamed. "You're not my fucking mom!"

Weiss backed up and raised her free hand, her tone mocking and insincere. "_Ooo_h well I'm sorry, how could I ever forgot about Ruby Rose's mom? It's not like you ever _shut up_ about her!" She mimicked wiping tears with her free hand, but the tears that Ruby felt gathering in the corners of her eyes were real enough. "Oh, my life's so hard," Weiss mocked, "my mom died when I was young, I never had _real_ parents! Well maybe having real parents isn't so fucking great huh! Look at mine!"

Pain. A sharp pain in her heart, like a jagged sword twisting and shoving each and every which way. Ruby hadn't felt pain like this in a long, long time. A deep, emotional burn that came with being_ intentionally_ treated like trash by someone you loved.

She couldn't deal with it right now. Not like this. Not with the source of that hurt so close. She didn't want to be anywhere near Weiss anymore, and it killed her that she felt that way. She had promised that she'd never let Weiss go, and here she was, wanting to do exactly that.

Ruby simply turned away and opened the door to the bedroom, stopping partially inside the doorframe. Her voice was low and full of hurt, reflected by the pain she felt in her heart. And just to top it all off, her headache had returned. "Weiss... just go." She didn't want her to see the pinpricks of water in her eyes.

The heiress simply turned up her nose and huffed, then spun around and crutched away as quickly as she could.

Ruby closed the door, slumped down against it, and started to cry.

* * *

Time stood still, and Weiss took each step down the long, dark hallway with careful, measured precision.

Well, as precise as your steps could be with crutches. She took her time, examining the walls and the different rooms of the upper level as she took the long journey to her room.

Memories flowed through her, and it felt like she was sleepwalking. Either end of the hallway was shrouded in shadow, and she felt like she could see the darkness as a living thing, a twisting, amorphous mass that carried with it the sorrows of her past. She felt like she could actually hear the silence, could hear the absolute lack of any sound in this place. No laughter, no conversation, no joy. The threat of her future.

Time stood still, and she was spirited away, back to the past. As she stalked ever onwards through the cold and the dark, the clock wound itself back. She felt like she had never left this place. She had never attended Beacon, never met her team. Never met Ruby.

Ruby? Who was that?

The name sent a pang of hurt through her heart, but she dismissed it. She didn't like the feeling it brought up, like the pain of fresh wounds, so she buried it under a wall of ice. It seemed so much easier to do here, where everything was already so cold and dark to begin with.

She was _Weiss Schnee_, _heiress_ of Schnee Dust. She lived here, in this castle at the edge and top of the world.

She was learning much these days, fencing and business theory, and history and mathematics and science and all sorts of interesting things.

Maybe her parents would let her attend Beacon Academy next year. She wanted to get out, to see what the world outside was like beyond the borders of Atlas, where everyone knew who she was and how to treat her. She could convince her parents that being a huntress would increase her desirability as a wife... Yes...

But after that, she knew, she would have to find a husband, and he would take over the company in her father's stead once he passed. She would provide him a suitable heir, to carry on the Schnee dynasty. The Schnee's supplied dust to the entire world. It wasn't so much her duty to her family, it was her duty to the _world_ that she had to uphold. If they didn't control the flow of dust, who would? She would _not_ let the world devolve into anarchy because of a resource crisis.

And if she was lucky, her husband might even let her manage some of the company with him. But that was just a vain hope. She knew that in all likelihood, she would end up as a trophy wife.

She stopped crutching, embraced the silence, accepted the dark. She was at peace with her fate. There was no escaping it. There was no point running from destiny.

Lost in thought, lost in the past, she glanced to her right, and was met with a closed door. The stylized white snowflake on it stood out. It was her room.

Her room... Strange that she had stopped here then, completely by chance. Or it might be that she was just so familiar with this house that her feet had subconsciously carried her here.

She dismissed the thought and grasped the doorknob, the metal cold to the touch. She turned it and pushed the door open without a sound, then crutched forward to stand in the doorframe.

It was just as she had left it, a month short of a year ago. Or had she ever left it at all?

The room was just as dark as the rest of the house. The center of it was taken up by a large white canopy bed, with tall pillars made of a dark wood on each of the four corners. To her right was a set of frosted glass doors that opened to her personal balcony, as well as a writing desk. The left side of the room contained the entrance to her expansive walk-in closet, and an old black grand piano in the corner. That was where she had first learned how to sing.

She laid a crutch against the door, deciding that she could make do with only one.

In a daze, she crutched closer to the balcony, ghosting the fingers of her free hand along the desk. She stopped with her hand pressed to the frosted glass, the chill seeping from her fingers to her hand, up her arm, into her body. She shivered.

Light. The room needed some light.

She reached over to the writing desk and flicked on the lamp, and the room instantly seemed a little warmer.

Her gaze wandered over the room, her mind wandering with it, and eventually her eyes came to rest upon her bed. She wanted the rest of her body to rest on it as well, she decided. She had already been standing on these infernal crutches enough for one day.

She set the crutch aside and flopped down on the giant bed, scrunched the sheets up in between her fingers, and let out a long, drawn out sigh. This place might never truly be her home, she decided, but she liked this bed. She _loved_ this bed.

A tight smile found its way to her face, and as she lifted her head, something caught her eye.

A wolf plush, grey, and about the size of a football. It was propped up on her pillows. Now when had her parents bought her that? They had always purchased anything she ever wanted, as long as she toed the line. But she couldn't remember them getting her this stuffed animal.

"Oh wait, that's right!" she realized. Her smile grew wider. "Ruby got that for me back at Beacon, and I had it shipped here after that night with... Ruby..."

_ Ruby..._

Her smile died completely. The ice wall collapsed as quickly as she had built it. She remembered it all. Who she was. Who Ruby was. What Ruby meant to her. And then what she had said.

_I'm the heiress of the entire Schnee dynasty, **I'm more 'alright' than you'll ever be**!_

_If you hadn't rushed off towards that stage like the **colossal idiot** you are, I'd be completely fine!_

_Well I've got an **annoying, asinine **_**failure**_ of a huntress in my face, who won't just **shut up** and get in her room! While she's in _my_ house!_

_Oh, my life's so hard, **my mom died** when I was young, I never had _real _parents!_

Her face scrunched up in shock and pain, and she did the only thing she could think to do.

She buried her face in Mr. Fangs, the grey wolf plush, and cried.

* * *

Through the quiet halls of _Der Turm Weiße_, not a soul was to be found.

They were silent and empty, much as they had been since they were constructed. The Schnee's were never very fond of hired help; the servants only walked the halls once a month, and then only to clean everything and make sure the place didn't get too dusty.

Not a soul to be found, except for one. A normally bright, shining soul. At the moment though, it was cloaked in an aura of sorrow. Tints of emotion shone through, anger, remorse, frustration, bitterness.

Feeling all these things and more, Ruby Rose strode through the frigid white halls of the castle. Aimless, wandering. It had been a few hours since her fight with her girlfriend, and she had grown tired of sitting inside her room. Plus, if she was being honest, she also left it just to spite Weiss. Because Weiss had told her to stay inside it. So, naturally, that was the opposite of what she wanted to do.

Before long though, as if by pure chance - why did that happen so much in this place? - she found herself in front of a smooth wooden door, marked with a golden placard that read 'Dr. Brandt.'

Remembering her headaches, she raised her hand, and then knocked once, twice, three times.

She waited for a few moments, realizing the Doctor probably wasn't in, before she heard the soft shuffle of footsteps approaching the door. It swung open without a sound, and then there was a woman standing before her.

Tall, nearly six foot, with a severe face, harsh features, and tight black hair wound into a bun.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Her voice would be reminiscent of hawk's, if they could speak.

"Um... yeah, I'm Ruby Rose, here with Weiss Schnee? We had a little run-in with the White Fang at an opera, and then-"

"I'm aware of what happened to the two of you. That's the reason I'm in my office right now. I was expecting the both of you though, where is Weiss?"

"Um... she's settling into her room right now. I think she'll be here later."

"But why isn't she here with you?" She poked her head out of the door and glanced down the hallway. "You _did_ come alone, after all."

"We uh... we're not on the best of terms?" she squeaked. "It's complicated, but like I said, she'll be by here later. I think I might have a concussion or something, and I figured since I saw your sign I might as well check in and see if you're in, but then I kinda didn't want to bother you but I figured a concussion was serious so-"

The doctor held her hand up. "You're rambling. Stop that. It's incredibly annoying."

"O-oh." Ruby stepped back, remembering Weiss' words from earlier.

_She's a more of a stuck-up bitch than I am._

"Well uh... I'll just head back to my room then and..."

The older woman silenced her with a glare that was surprisingly Weiss-like. "You said you had a concussion? That's a serious matter, if left untreated. So how about you stop pouting, and step inside my office?"

"...Okay?"

* * *

"Well, you _do_ have a concussion."

Ruby sagged into the chair she sat in. Great. Just another wonderful thing to add to the list of today's great events.

"But it's very mild. The headaches you're feeling should be gone within a week. But every concussion injures your brain to some extent. This injury needs time and rest to heal properly. I would advise you to not partake in any sort of activity that could lead to a head injury. I trust you're smart enough know what you should and shouldn't do."

The doctor sighed, pinched the bridge of her nose, and shut her eyes. "In the event that you do, however, know that experiencing a second concussion before signs and symptoms of a first concussion have resolved, may result in rapid and usually fatal brain swelling. So like I said," she finished as she stared at Ruby with a look of mild distaste, "participate in combat at your own risk."

With that, the doctor swiftly stood, stepped around the desk, and walked out of the office. "If Weiss comes looking for me, I'll probably be in the sun room." She mumbled something else as she walked off, but Ruby managed to catch the back end of it. _"-the only room I can stand in this fucking place..."_

"Well that was... interesting..." Ruby said to no one in particular. The air in White Castle was so empty and cold, she felt like it needed to be filled with words and conversation as much as possible. Even if that conversation was with the potted plant next to the doctor's desk.

Ruby stood, realizing she should probably leave and wondering why any doctor would leave a patient alone in their unsecured office. But as she turned to go, a folder on the desk caught her eye. She could only read a fragment of the label on the yellow folder, but what she could see read: iss Schnee.

"Iss? Weiss?" She wondered aloud.

Glancing around to make sure there were no cameras in the room, and then out into the hallway to make sure the doctor wasn't coming back, she slid the folder across the desk and picked it up. The cover did indeed read: Weiss Schnee.

Overcome with curiosity, she opened it.

It appeared to be a detailed medical history of her partner, complete with biometric readings, psychiatric and psychological analysis', even dental reports and x-rays of her bone structure. Flipping through at random, a particular section caught her eye.

"Let's see..." she said. "Weiss Schnee, age sixteen, diagnosed with... attachment disorder?"

Simply for the sake of filling the ever-empty air, she read the following passage aloud.

"Attachment disorder is where a child or adult is unable to form normal healthy attachments. This is usually due to deta... detrimental early life experiences - such as neglect, abuse, separation from their parents or primary caregivers (after six months of age and before three years of age), frequent change of caregivers, and lack of responsiveness from their caregivers. Symptoms vary depending on age. In adults, they fall under one of two categories – either avoidant or anxious/ ambivalent personalities. Weiss falls under the category of avoidant. The symptoms are summarized below."

Ruby scanned the document with suspicion, then continued reading.

"Avoidant: intense anger and hostility, hypercritical of others, extremely sensitive to criticism, correction or blame, lacks empathy, sees others as untrustworthy and unreliable, either sees themselves as being unlovable or "too good" for others..."

She took a deep breath before continuing. Even though she was angry at Weiss, this was still hard to read.

"Relationships are experienced as either being too threatening or requiring too much effort, fear of closeness and intimacy, compulsive self-reliance, passive or uninvolved in relationships, finds it hard to get along with co-workers and authority figures, prefers to work alone, or to be self employed... may use work to avoid investing in relationships..."

She looked away from the folder, processing what she had just read. She stared at that same potted plant, deciding that talking to it was better than talking to the air.

"Well... that certainly seems to fit. Weiss is definitely hypercritical, she lacks a lot of empathy... and given what she said to me earlier today, it's like she sees me as 'untrustworthy and unreliable'... ouch."

She read the symptoms again. "Relations are experienced as either being too threatening... yeap, that's her. Fear of closeness and intimacy, yeap. Compulsive self-reliance, bingo. Passive or uninvolved in relationships... Eh, maybe sometimes. Finds it hard to get along with co-workers and authority figures, definitely."

She closed the folder and laid it back on the desk, figuring she had read enough. It put things into a different perspective, their whole argument, and actually, _all_ of Weiss' behavior. It explained everything.

"Attachment disorder, huh?"

She sighed and sat back down in the chair by the door, shivering against the chill in the air.

And then she did what she didn't necessarily want to do. In her heart, she forgave Weiss.

She said it out loud just to make it real: a breathy whisper in the frost-bitten air.

"Weiss... I forgive you. And I still love you."

And slowly, the seemingly perpetual smile that she always wore worked it's way back onto her face.

_"I forgive you Weiss."_

* * *

Ruby's guest room. A conspicuous lack of Ruby.

The sitting room. A marked absence of Ruby.

The library. No Ruby.

The _kitchens_. No Ruby!

The pool, the gym, the track, the grand foyer, the ballroom, the gardens. No _Ruby_.

Weiss crutched through the frigid, desolate hallways with a quiet desperation. The walls seemed to warp and stretch around her, her fear transforming them into a nightmarish parody of the corridors she had walked as a child.

Her fear. Constricting her, squeezing her, burying her.

Because she couldn't find Ruby. And she couldn't argue away the part of her that said that Ruby had already left, that it was _her_ fault,that she had done this to her girlfriend. And the reason she couldn't fight off that little whisper was because she knew it was right. Because she _had_ done this to her partner.

She had to find her. She had to apologize, before it was too late. Before Ruby realized what a cold-hearted stuck-up bitch she was, and would always be, and left her forever. Before the one light in her cold, dim life disappeared forever.

She stopped by the door of the sitting room, and barely managed to suppress a howl of frustration. If her hands weren't occupied with her crutches, she would've been tearing at her hair.

Where was Ruby? Why had the girl even left her room in the first place?

If only she would just _listen _sometimes, when she told Ruby to stay in her room she had a reason and-

No. No, she was done blaming Ruby for this. The fact that her mind was still trying to do so was sickening. Distraught, alone, and cold, she stared into the sitting room, out the window, at the frigid abyss beyond.

And then she saw something she hadn't seen before. The very top of what looked to be a head of dark brown hair, peeking out from over the top of a large, leather chair. Her breath caught in her throat, and she moved slowly, hesitantly across the room, not willing to believe her eyes. But closer inspection confirmed it. It was indeed Ruby. She was slumped back against a crimson leather chair, one of many arranged in a loose circle around the fireplace. But the fireplace was empty, and the room was abysmally cold.

Ruby was in nothing more than a loose grey shirt and a pair of black pants. And judging by the way the brunette shifted in her sleep and curled in on herself like an armadillo, she was definitely feeling the cold. She was also very, very asleep. Her mouth hung open, admitting a trail of drool that was steadily working its way down her face.

Weiss couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was the first time she'd smiled since they got there.

"You dolt..." she whispered to the empty air.

She spun on her crutches, moved quickly to a small closet just outside the room, and retrieved a large blanket with a distinctly creamy color.

_"Figures, if my parents can't have white, they'll have _shades_ of white," _she thought with a sigh.

She moved back into the room, and ever so carefully, so as not to wake her girlfriend, she draped the blanket over her.

The effects were immediate: Ruby mumbled something in her sleep and uncurled from her ball, and her face was lit by a gentle grin.

Weiss felt a smile on her face to match Ruby's, and after staring at her partner for a few long, drawn out seconds, desperately hoping that she would forgive her, she walked over to the windows and stood in front of them.

_"So cold..."_

She brought her hand up and tried to wipe the frost from one of them, succeeding in clearing a small circle with which she could gaze on the outside world. Sometimes she felt trapped in this place. It was like an island, so difficult to reach and just as difficult to leave. She could understand wanting to isolate yourself from the rest of the world, especially if you were the most powerful company in it, but times like this it weared at her. She just wanted to go somewhere, anywhere else. Anywhere she couldn't slip back into her old ways.

She felt ashamed, horrified that she still had the capacity to treat Ruby like that, after everything the girl had already done for her.

If she could treat Ruby like that now... what about in the future? Could Ruby trust her? Could she trust herself?

Lost in her thoughts of self-deprecation, she didn't hear the soft rustle of cloth from behind her.

She didn't hear the quiet footsteps, or the gentle swish of a blanket being opened.

All she felt was it suddenly wrap around her from behind, along with a pair of strong, warm arms.

"Ruby! I-"

"Sshhhhh." The brunette placed a finger against her lips from behind, pulling her closer by the waist with her other arm. "Just ssh. I forgive you."

A moment passed, in which Weiss' heart ceased to beat.

"You... you forgive me?" Weiss whispered, more to herself than anyone else. Ruby simply squeezed her tighter.

Yes, Ruby forgave her.

Ruby _actually forgave_ her.

With that realization, a terribly comforting warmth suffused her, one that stretched from Ruby. The blanket wrapped around the both of them did a magnificent job of keeping out the cold air, and Weiss turned and buried her face in Ruby's shoulder.

The brunette simply held her close, rubbing slow circles into her back and resting her chin on the top of Weiss' head.

What did she ever do to deserve someone like this? Someone who she could treat like garbage, someone who would then come right back to her and hold her like this? Someone who, no matter how hard she unconsciously tried to push away, kept coming back for more? Someone who knew that deep down, she needed this? That she needed this warmth, this affection, this love?

"I'm sorry," she mumbled against Ruby's shoulder.

"I already told you Weiss, I forgive you." She let out a long, pent-up sigh. "I forgive you."

They stayed that way for a few minutes, content simply to be. Then Weiss raised her head and found Ruby's lips, pressing a long, heartfelt kiss to them.

When she drew back, Ruby was gazing down at her with those eyes that seemed to swallow her. With that beatific smile, the one that melted her heart and filled her soul. As their auras met, the sensation as amazing as the first time it had happened, Weiss found herself nearly overcome with longing for the girl that was holding her. So she squeezed her closer, like it was the last time either of them would ever do so, and whispered gently in Ruby's ear.

"I need to get out of here. I don't want to do that to you again. I'll take one of my father's cars and head down to Glasieren for a few days. Will... will you come with me?"

Ruby kissed her again. "You already know the answer to that."

* * *

_**Being demiromantic is actually a thing, it's when you only feel attraction to a person once you've made a powerful emotional connection with them. I figure that explains Weiss' affections for Ruby. Attachment disorder is real too.**_

_**I hope you all enjoyed, and please leave a review before you go, even if it's as simple as "ur riting is gud lol." On second thought, please try to leave more than that. Did you like White Castle? Enjoy your weekend!**_

_**The lyrics at the beginning are from Sleepwalking by Bring Me the Horizon.**_


	13. Chapter 11 - Firewarmth

_**Winter taking days  
Nights filled with longer hours  
**_

_**Winter solstice  
Passing by us  
Temperatures dropping, try us  
With colder feelings**_

_**Black ice and hidden lust**_  
_**White sheets of snow concealing**_  
_**Gloves on hands**_  
_**With warmer pasts**_

_**With the days living faster now  
We cast our make pretends  
Extra heat demands  
A rising constant power  
**_

_**Darkness taking days  
Nights filled with longer hours  
**_

_**Got a jagged gorgeous winter from a summers thread  
All the lies you told about me they were totally, totally, totally true  
Thinking through the noise you get back to bed  
With your tinker tinker toys  
You gotta think it, think it, think it, think it through**_

_**Winter taking days**_

_**Nights filled with longer hours**_

* * *

"Uh... Weiss? Aren't you going a little fast?"

"It's a Wasenschiest UTX Ruby, it's _made_ to go fast."

The landscape sped by in a blur, the snow and trees whipping past them as a single congealed mass of green and white.

The car she was driving was sleek, silver, and if you asked Weiss, the most beautiful piece of engineering in the past century. It was all curves and smooth grey carbon fibre, exquisitely styled and masterfully built. The interior was made of grey leather and smooth surfaces, lacquered wood and shining steel. It was a marvel of modern engineering, using dust as much as gasoline to power its insanely complex engine, capable of putting out close to 970 horsepower. It certainly _was _made to go fast.

"Yeah but like, isn't this too fast?!" Ruby squealed.

They were picking up speed, moving faster and faster. It wasn't that Weiss was accelerating, but they were on a sharp downgrade coming down from Ausgefranst. And she wasn't using the brake. At all.

Keeping the road in her peripherals, she watched the odometer climb. _Sixty, sixty five, seventy._

Ruby squeaked and sank into the seat, hands gripping the extraordinarily expensive grey leather of the shotgun seat. _Seventy five, eighty, eighty five._

Weiss flexed her grip, her white driving gloves sliding over the material of the wheel with the perfect amount of friction. "Whats the problem Ruby? I thought you _liked_ going fast?" _Ninety, ninety five, one hundred._

"Yeah but I have control of my own body!"

Weiss smirked. She certainly _felt_ in control right now. "I have a steering wheel and a drive shift, a gas pedal and a brake pedal. I'm perfectly in control."

"Exactly, you have a brake pedal! So use it!"

Weiss grinned. After feeling so frustrated and trapped in White Castle, even for only a few hours, this was _heavenly_. It wasn't as if she was ignoring Ruby, but unlike the brunette, she knew they were in no danger at all. She had always had a natural gift behind the wheel, and it thrilled her like almost nothing else. It was a guilty pleasure, and that's why almost no one knew of it. She didn't want other people to know that something as simple as a machine could satisfy her so completely.

Ruby repeated herself, perhaps hoping that repetition would break through Weiss' indifference to the incredibly dangerous speed they were traveling at. "Weiss, brake pedal! Use it!"

The night was deep, the moon hidden, the clouds full. The mountainside whipped by in a dark blur, and the only thing they could see was the rapidly twisting road through the powerful white headlights of the car. The feeling of vertigo was intense, and Weiss loved it.

_One hundred thirty_.

Use the brake pedal?

"Where's the fun in that?" she whispered.

* * *

The clock on the car's lit up dashboard read **4:18 AM**.

Weiss stared at it in, lost in thought. They were sitting in a small, abandoned parking lot on the outskirts of Glasieren, the only vehicle there. The headlights illuminated the side of a building on the opposite side of the lot. Dark wood and cobblestone that sagged with the weight of age and leaned in slightly towards the street.

The engine idled, the only sound they could hear. It was quiet, but the quiet of a caged beast before it was unleashed upon it's prey. The car was like a crouching panther, all muscle and the potential of raw, blistering speed. If she wanted to, Weiss could've gone from zero to eighty in less than five seconds.

But Weiss didn't feel like losing herself in the rush of heedless acceleration anymore. Because they had made it to Glasieren, they were out of Der Turm Weisse, and Ruby's hand on hers was warm and comforting. Something she didn't necessarily feel like she deserved, not after what she had said and done to the brunette. Not after the way she had treated her.

Like one of her _servants_. Like she didn't matter anymore than that crumpled up newspaper in the headlights, sitting alone and abandoned in the parking lot.

She wanted, no, she _needed_ Ruby to know that she meant more than that.

It was 4:18 AM, she was high off of the lack of sleep, and she felt like doing anything else than sitting in that car with the engine idling, with the silence hanging between them, with the snow falling on the windshield. With her mind racing and wondering if Ruby's was doing the same.

She opened her mouth to speak, to say something,_ anything_, but Ruby spoke first. The brunette was staring out to the front, and apparently hadn't seen Weiss open her mouth.

"Do you wanna... sleep in here? Or like, find a hotel? Er, do you guys do hotels in Glasieren?"

Weiss sighed, contemplating her options. She didn't really want to sleep. She _really_ just wanted to spend more time with Ruby. Sure she would be with Ruby while she slept, at least while they were here, but it wasn't the same if she wasn't conscious. She wanted to be alert, to be active, to be able to watch Ruby and record every precious moment in her head. She wanted to feel Ruby's skin on her own, to know that something that she did made Ruby laugh and that something she said made Ruby smile.

As much as she wanted Ruby to know that she mattered to her, she also wanted to know that she still mattered to _Ruby_, as a person. Not just as a bedwarmer.

An idea occurred to her.

"Ruby... are you even tired?"

The brunette smirked. "To be honest, not really. For some reason that crazy adrenaline rush I got from your driving hasn't gone away, and I don't think I'll be tired for a while."

Weiss glanced behind her, checking to make sure her crutches were in the back seat. She was glad she had brought them, as it would be fairly difficult to navigate the tight streets of Glasieren without them. She grinned wickedly, like a child who had just found that their mother had left the cookie jar on the counter-top.

"Ruby, do you want to stay up?"

* * *

"Weiss, be straight with me. Why the black hoodie? You hate black, you hate hoodies, and I quote: "I wouldn't be caught dead in those ratty street clothes you wear."

The heiress smirked, the black hood hiding her face from the glow of the old gas lamps that lined the street they were strolling down. "Well maybe I want to try something a little different. The same old same sure isn't working, we just found that out in White Castle."

The night was quiet and dark, the moon was still hidden, and Glasieren was asleep. A chill wind blew through the air with a light snowfall, lightly dusting the cobblestone streets and wooden buildings. Ruby and Weiss walked side-by-side and hand-in-hand, reasoning that if anyone did see them during this ungodly hour, there wouldn't be any way for them to recognize Weiss, given her current attire. They weren't heading anywhere in particular either, just walking. Enjoying the night, and being with eachother.

Ruby's calloused hand was warm, and gave her a sense of solidarity that she desperately needed right now.

"Why do you even _have_ a black hoodie at your house? Your parents are all rich and fancy, I didn't think they'd ever let you get something like that."

There was a pause, where the only sound was their footsteps and Weiss' crutch echoing on the cobblestones. She only needed one, her knee already felt better somehow. Then:

"...It's yours."

"Wait, what? It's _mine_?"

Weiss was glad for the hood; otherwise Ruby would have laughed at the deep crimson coloring her face.

"Yes, dolt, it's yours."

Ruby laughed anyway, and Weiss was glad that she wasn't mad. She already had enough to make up to the brunette as it was.

"Why do you have my hoodie? And when did you even take that, like a year ago? That's the only way you could've brought it back to White Castle, since you only go home during the summer."

The heiress scoffed and turned her head to the side, still quite embarrassed. "Well maybe I _did_ take it a year ago."

"But... but we weren't even," Ruby lowered her voice," you know, _dating _back then."

"...Maybe I wanted something to remember you by when I stayed there during the summer. I still missed you, even back then."

"Yeah, but a black hoodie? I have plenty of those, and you could've asked for something else."

"...Maybe it smells like you."

Ruby frowned, then snatched at Weiss' sleeve and brought it up to her nose. "Ugh, why does everything I wear end up smelling like roses?"

Weiss simply nodded her head, as if that was the only answer she needed to give.

Ruby, however, was apparently not satisfied. "So a whole six months before we started dating, you stole one of my sweaters to take back home with you, just so you could smell me while I was gone?"

Weiss remained silent. She didn't know if the blush on her cheeks could get any deeper, and talking was only making it worse.

And also apparently, that was answer enough for her partner.

Ruby giggled, the sound lilted and happy in the cool night air. "Oh my g_aaaa_h, that is the cutest thing ever! You are so freaking _cute_ Weiss! Holy crap I need to kiss you _right_ now."

The brunette spun, glancing down both ends of the street to make sure no one was watching.

"Ruby, wait-"

Before she could protest further, Ruby forced her up against the wall, making her drop her crutch as she stumbled backwards. Her partner caught her before she could fall, but her knees buckled anyway. Not because she was tired, or because they hurt, but because Ruby was currently exploring the inside of her mouth with her tongue.

The heiress moaned involuntarily, grabbed fistfuls of the back of Ruby's grey sweater and pulling her closer. Her heart was soaring, because t_his_ was what she needed. Absolute, undeniable confirmation that Ruby still wanted to be with her. And this was pretty much as absolute as it got. And as the kiss deepened, something new happened between them.

A fierce heat grew in her abdomen, stronger than she had felt before, as she realized that Ruby had driven her knee in between her legs without her noticing. It was crazy, it was strange, it was scarily new. But she wanted more. Without thinking she ground herself up and down on it, more moans escaping as the pleasureful sensation made her shudder and her eyelids flutter closed. Ruby slid a hand under the bottom of her hoodie, and somehow even in the cold the brunette's hand was warm as she rested it on the bare skin of her waist. The touch was electric, sending chills and fire up her spine in equal measure as Ruby's rough fingertips glided across her smooth skin, up to her stomach.

It felt dangerous, wrong almost; it was further than they'd ever dared to go before. Neither of them knew what they were doing, they were simply exploring and trying to find out _exactly_ how far they could go before the other wanted to stop.

But then Ruby's other hand slipped into her pants, under her panties, and grabbed her ass. And she lost the ability to form rational, coherent thoughts.

Because this was amazing, this was new, and this was _intoxicating_. Her breath sped up, and she could feel Ruby's breathing become irregular too. The pounding of their hearts was painfully audible in the silence of the night.

The rational part of her mind would probably be screaming at her to stop, telling her how embarrassing this was to be doing this with another girl, and a poor one at that. Her mother's voice would probably be echoing in her head, repeating the words: "You are not a lesbian!" over and over.

But that rational part of her mind was being drowned out completely by the sheer pleasure she felt, the warmth of Ruby's body, that sense of closeness she felt with her partner as their auras intertwined like never before and her soul lit itself on beautiful, heart-warming fire. The sheer _intimacy_ of it all. She had never felt anything like it before.

And then somewhere down the street a trash can tipped over, sending the lid clattering and spinning over the cobblestone.

It jerked her back into reality, out of heaven, and she realized what exactly it was they were doing. She froze and leaned back against the wall as Ruby released her and slid her hands into her pockets, as if she was ashamed at where they had just been. The brunette cleared her throat and stared at a point on the wall just beside Weiss' head. The brunette's breathing was heavy and irregular, the same as her own.

Ruby spun on her heel and looked away, and Weiss took the opportunity to straighten her pants, her shirt, and anything else that might possibly have been wrinkled in their 'encounter'.

"So..." Ruby ventured, sounding as nervous as Weiss had ever heard her. "That was..."

"We just..." Weiss muttered.

"I mean it was..."

"Well it's very cold... and..."

"You were just being _really_ cute..."

"Mmhmm."

"And then you just..."

"When you had your knee there I..."

"...Yeah."

Weiss sighed, trying to gather her thoughts, figuring she had to be the rational one in this situation. Besides, forming clear, logical thoughts would let her ignore what had just happened.

"So does that mean our fight is over Ruby?"

The brunette turned around again, meeting her gaze. Ruby was biting her thumb, and looking quite adorable for it if you asked her. "Is that what that was? That was our first fight?"

"I guess so. I mean, what else would you call it?"

Ruby simply frowned and looked at the ground. "Well... I mean I think we made up a while ago, back when you put that blanket on me while I was sleeping. I mean at least to _me_, we were made up then. Were you still worried we weren't?"

Weiss frowned too. "I... I know I shouldn't have been but... I'm still paranoid about that kind of thing." She decided to speak her mind, deciding that at the very least, it would help to get it off of her chest. And she still remembered Ruby's promise, to always be there if Weiss ever needed to talk. And right now, she definitely needed to.

The heiress sighed. "I keep worrying that you'll realize what a disgusting person I am on the inside. I keep worrying that you'll leave me because of it."

Ruby was on her in a flash, wrapping her up in those terrible, strong arms that made it hard for her to think. "N_ooo_, no no don't ever think that way Weiss. I already told you earlier today what a beautiful person you are on the inside, remember? I wasn't just saying that just to be romantic or anything; you asked me why I really love you, and I told you. I meant that all from the deepest place in my heart."

"...I know," Weiss muttered, her words muffled against Ruby's shoulder. "But I'm my own worst enemy, I really am. It'll probably take a lot more of you telling me that for me to start seeing myself that way. My parents have always had such high expectations of me, and when I didn't meet them, I was a failure, I was a mistake, I didn't deserve to be a Schnee. That's why my own standards are so high, that's why I was always so hard on you. It's just the way I was raised. And it'll take a while for me, and you, to change that."

She sighed, clutching the shoulder her head wasn't resting on with her free hand and squeezing it softly. Ruby was silent, probably realizing that all she needed to do right now was listen.

"That doesn't mean I want you to stop trying though, at all. I love that you want me to feel better about myself, I love your compliments, I love the way you stare at me, I love how affectionately you treat me, even when I turn around and treat you like crap in return."

Weiss took a deep breath, steadying herself as she readied herself to discuss a topic that was quite embarrassing to her, one that she had always avoided. She deliberated, wondering if she should even bring this up at all, but Ruby's arms around her waist tightened a little, and she decided Ruby deserved to know.

"And about what we just did... it's complicated. I thought we weren't ready for that, but since it happened so... naturally... maybe we _are_. But even if _we_ are, wait, you know what I mean by we?"

Ruby murmured her affirmation. "Yeah like, we as a couple right?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes, but just because _we're_ ready, doesn't mean _I _am. Don't take this wrong, I think you're incredibly sexy," she murmured, and saw Ruby blush out of the corner of her eye. "And it's amazing that our first time is going to be with eachother. There's no one else I'd rather be with, and the fact that we're going to share something like that is so incredibly beautiful..."

Ruby sighed, and Weiss breathed in the gentle scent of roses. "It's just going to take some time for me to get... used to it, is all. You see, my whole life I've been raised to believe that a woman's only place, especially in bed, is with a man. And going to Beacon, leaving Atlas and meeting you has made me realize that there's so much more out there, and who you're with doesn't matter so long as you love that person. I don't care that you're a girl – well, I mean I know you're a girl and all – but it doesn't really matter to me, because I _love_ you, and I know you love me."

She felt Ruby's heart-rate pick up slightly. "So just... give me a bit of time to come to terms with this, alright? Can you wait for me?"

Ruby kept her voice as low as Weiss'. "Weiss, I waited for you for three freakin' years. I think I can a little longer to have sex with you."

The way that Ruby so blatantly said what she had been skirting around made her cheeks color and flush, but she didn't say anything about it. Maybe it was good to get it out in the open like that, to readily admit that that was what they were talking about. Having sex with eachother.

"This means no more slapping yourself in the bathroom though."

"Wha-, you knew about that?"

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, I knew."

"Well why didn't you..." And then it occurred to her that Ruby, at the time, had never believed they had a chance together. Ruby, at the time, was trying to hide her own affections and bury them, and confronting Weiss about slapping herself in the bathroom and muttering 'I'm not a lesbian," would probably only open those wounds further.

"Never mind, I know why you didn't ask. But don't worry, I won't be doing that again. Ever."

Ruby hummed, and suddenly Weiss realized that the sun was rising. The sky to the east was pale, a muted swirl of pink, blue, and yellow. The light reflected off of the windows of Glasieren, turning them orange. It shined on the wooden walls of the buildings, and suddenly the town didn't seem so dark anymore.

"Man," Ruby said. "Six months ago I never believed that we'd ever, _ever_ be together, but here we just had our first fight, and almost even had _sex_."

"Don't say that word like that," Weiss grumbled.

"What? Sex?"

"Yes, you dolt."

"Sex," Ruby said with a giggle. "Sex, sex, sex. Sex with _Weiss_."

"Keep that up and it's never going to happen."

"Oh, I'm not too worried," Ruby said. "You like my abs too much to stay away from me for long."

The blush returned, just when Weiss had thought it had finally disappeared. "You're making it _really_ hard to hold you right now Rose."

"Alright alright, I'll stop," Ruby laughed.

Weiss lifted her head off of the brunette's shoulder, watching the morning mist coil and float about in the street.

"So where to now," Ruby asked. "Back to your badass car?"

Weiss contemplated her options. Sleeping in that car probably wouldn't be too comfortable, especially with her crutch, which were still resting on the sidewalk beside her. Ruby's arms had proved to be enough of a support for her.

No, she needed a bed, and returning to White Castle was out of the question.

"I know a few good inns around here, actually," the heiress answered. "I can get a room, and if you come in a few minutes later and get your own, no one will be suspicious. I think I need to sleep for _at least_ the entirety of the next day."

"Oh," Ruby said, sounding like she was utterly disappointed but trying to hide it. "So... I'll just sleep in my own room then?"

Weiss lifted her head and glared at her. "You dolt, are you serious? The only reason you're getting your own room is so that it's _not_ suspicious, and the only reason I don't want it to be suspicious is obviously because we'll be sleeping _together_."

Ruby's smile returned in full force, but she rolled her eyes in embarrassment. "Oh right, duh. Sorry, just me being an idiot."

Weiss glared at her for a few more seconds, then let it drop and smiled back. She stared up at Ruby, at the way the rising sun shone in her silver eyes and made them sparkle like a sea of mercury. She kissed her, deep and full, making sure to etch every detail of it into her memory. Ruby's lips were warm, soft, and tasted like that cherry lip balm she was always wearing. The brunette's arms around her were strong and warm, contrasting with the frigid air colliding with her exposed skin. And Ruby's joyful hum was a rumble in her chest, one that affirmed, one last time, that _yes_, she really did forgive her. She really did still want Weiss, as a person.

"Yes, you _are_ an idiot sometimes," Weiss whispered. "But I love you for it."

* * *

"Ah, my Lady Schnee! How noble of you to grace such an establishment as my own!"

The innkeeper of the _Wandering Sten_ was just as Weiss remembered him: portly, sweaty, and just as aggravatingly sycophantical as everyone else in this damn town. Although now, faced with the heiress of the company that practically owned this damn town, he seemed to be sweating a little more than usual. While he talked, he eyed her crutch and irregular attire. She could only imagine what he was thinking.

"Please, how can I _possibly_ help you on a glorious morning like this?"

Weiss fought the urge to sigh and grimace at the same time, and simply replied: "Just a room, thank you."

"Oh _but of course_," he replied, hurriedly turning around to the wooden rack where the room keys were hung. He sorted through them for a few seconds, his movements uncertain and near-frantic. Then he turned, but with a horribly disappointed expression on his face. It made his face look like a pig's.

"I'm sorry, I must apologize as our best room is currently in use. I will, however, have it vacated immediately and prepared for your-"

Weiss held up her hand to stop him. "Any room will do."

"A-Any room?" The innkeeper paused for a second, as if unsure of who exactly he was talking to. "I mean, yes of course, any room. Um... room fourteen is currently unoccupied, would that be pleasing to your _refined_ tastes?"

Weiss nodded. "I said any room."

Normally, she would not be fine with just _any_ room, but at that point she was tired beyond caring. All she wanted to do was crawl into a bed with Ruby, fade into the brunette's warmth, and drift off into a deep slumber. For the next year, preferably.

He handed her the key and spouted off an obviously well-rehearsed litany of the room's many virtues, before pointing down the hallway towards it. Weiss nodded politely, her exhausted brain blocking out the rest of what he said.

She crutched down the tight wooden hallway, past numerous other rooms, before finally arriving at room fourteen. Fumbling with the key in her sleep-deprived state, she finally managed to fit it into the keyhole and turn the lock.

She stepped inside, only barely noticing the interior. It was relatively small, the floor was carpeted while the walls seemed to be made of actual stacked logs, and lastly, it was dark. The only light was the sun streaming in through the tiny gap in between the curtains, and she quickly strode over to the window and closed them fully.

Then she laid down her crutch, stretched her arms over her head, and flopped down onto the bed.

Thankfully it was soft, and not at all as bad as she had always imagined the beds of _poor_ people to be.

She felt her mind drift away into a welcoming darkness, but then a thought occurred to her like a pinpoint of light in the sea of black that was the land of sleep.

Ruby had no way to tell what room she was in.

* * *

"Hi! My name's Ruby Rose, and I'd like a room please!"

"Yes, yes, hold on, I'll be with you in a second."

The portly innkeeper didn't even spare her a second glance as he disappeared into a backroom. Ruby sighed and glanced around the tavern. It was early morning, and the few patrons that were downstairs this early were eating breakfast. The food actually looked quite good, and smelled even better. Bacon, sausages, eggs, and all sorts of bread. It made her stomach rumble, as she remembered that she hadn't eaten since... actually, she _couldn't_ remember when she'd last eaten.

The innkeeper was still bustling around in the backroom, making quite a racket as what sounded like barrels and crates fell to the ground.

Ruby glanced towards the hallway on the other side of the tavern that evidently led to the inn's rooms. Weiss was there, waiting for her, and she wanted nothing more than to just skip getting her own room and head straight for the heiress. Would anyone notice?

And then she realized something. She had no way of telling what room Weiss was in.

"Argh, crap" she muttered to herself, smacking her forehead with her palm.

And at that moment the innkeeper finally showed up, huffing and puffing his way up to the desk.

"Now little miss, is there something I can help you with?"

"Um, yes, I need a room. And uh..."

He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly waiting for her to continue. She didn't know what to say. She obviously couldn't just ask him what room Weiss was in. He wouldn't tell her, and he would probably alert the police, or the Schnee thugs that Weiss said were in the town, or something like that.

So she settled for: "Uh, can you make sure it has heat?"

The man glared at her, as if he was insulted that she would imply that his lodgings weren't up to par. "Miss, I assure you every room in this _distinguished_ establishment has heat." He grabbed a key off of the rack, barely looking at it. "You're in room five, you pay when you're ready to check out. And _don't_ think of leaving without paying. I have people for that."

He tossed the key at her, which she of course managed to swipe at, miss, and let drop to the floor. She hurriedly crouched down and picked it up, shooting him her brightest smile.

"Heh heh, thanks! I can find it on my own."

He stared at her, his face impassive and , in a strange way, slightly creepy. She spun on her heel and strode across the tavern floor, and as soon as he wasn't looking her smile was replaced with an angry frown. "Freakin' jerk," she mumbled.

Stepping up a small flight of carpeted stairs, she reached the hallway of the inn proper. It was long and dark, inadequately lit by fitfully glowing lanterns on the walls. Doors lined both walls, spaced out evenly at regular intervals. And she had absolutely no idea which one Weiss was behind.

The wooden floor creaked underfoot as she walked, even though she took care to step as lightly as possible.

"Well I might as well stop by my room first," she muttered. "Let's see, one, three, five."

She put the key in the lock and turned it.

"Psst!"

She whipped her head around, searching for the source of the whisper. A ways down the hall, Weiss was waving at her from halfway out of her door.

"Dolt!" she whispered harshly. "Get in here before someone sees you!"

A broad grin broke out across Ruby's face, and she hurried across the hall as quickly as she could, nearly tackling Weiss into the room.

It was small, but not uncomfortably so. The floor was covered in a green carpet, and the walls were made of some dark wood.

The brunette shut the door, before turning back to her favorite heiress and wrapping her into a tight embrace. "I mi_ssss_ed yo_uuu_!"

"D-Dunce! We've only been apart for ten minutes!"

"Yeah but it was way freakin' too long!" Ruby exclaimed, dragging Weiss over to the room's only bed and pulling her down onto it. They flopped onto the soft mattress, the heiress' shrieks muffled by the mound of pillows at the head of the bed. Ruby grabbed her by the waist, flipping her over and pressing her chest against the heiress' back.

Weiss' heavy breathing was the only sound in the room for a while, and without a word they shifted and got more comfortable. Ruby found herself thinking that it said something about them, that they could be completely comfortable snuggling up against eachother, in a strange room, without having to speak. They had come a long ways, that was for sure.

"Are you going to just sleep in your clothes?" Weiss finally asked.

"Well what would I change into?" Ruby giggled.

"...Oh. Right."

"Anyway, that no-sleep high is starting to wear off, and I'm getting pretty sleepy. I don't think I would get up to change if I wanted to."

Weiss reached down and grabbed a large woolen blanket at the foot of the bed, then pulled it up and over the both of them. "Well at least use this blanket then. You'll catch a cold."

Ruby frowned. "But the innkeeper told me that every room has heat-"

"That's a blatant lie Ruby. Of course he'll say something like that to get you to purchase a room here and not at another inn. Then if you complained that there was no heat, he would just say that it was broken, he filed a work order, and there was nothing more he could do about it."

"Yeesh..." Ruby muttered, feeling slightly betrayed.

"You always assume the best of people..." Weiss said. She bent her knees and entangled her legs with Ruby's. "Unfortunately, that's not always the way things are."

"Humph, well aren't you glad I assumed the best of you?"

The heiress frowned. "Well... I suppose so."

They were quiet for a while then, but neither appeared to be able to fall asleep just yet. Ruby took a deep breath, simply enjoying the warmth of Weiss' body pressed up against her own. It was a stark contrast to the chill of the air on her face and her hands. But then Weiss took her hands as well, and then those were warm too. She smiled.

"Ruby," Weiss breathed, "I need to apologize. Formally."

"Aw it's no problem, you don't need to-"

"Ruby. I _need_ to."

Ruby felt warmer than ever, knowing that Weiss would really force herself to apologize – which wasn't something she did often – for her. The heiress' words back at the castle still hurt, but here Ruby recognized a balm, a chance to soothe them.

"...Alright then."

The heiress shifted a little, pushing herself further back into Ruby's body. When she spoke her voice seemed strained, but sincere. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, and I love you."

Ruby felt her cheeks grow warm, and her aura flared a tiny bit. And she felt Weiss' do the same. All it took was those three little words.

"I know I told you that sometimes that castle does things to me, that all those memories of my childhood and past come up to the surface and make it hard to breathe. But that's no excuse for what I said to you. I had absolutely no right, not after everything you've done for me. And what I said about your mother..."

She paused, and the silence hung in the air. And Ruby only squeezed her tighter. "I'm sorry for that above all else. You're such a beautiful person Ruby, and you don't deserve to have anyone ever hurt you like ..."

The heiress let out a long sigh, and seemed to be wrestling internally with herself, judging by her conflicted eyes.

"What is it?" Ruby whispered.

"It's just... you've heard all of that before. I've told you all that before, how beautiful you are and how thankful I am to have you, and how much I love you. But it all sounds so hollow now. Because apparently even with all that, I still can't even trust myself to not yell at you and treat you like rubbish. If all it takes for me to forget all you've done is to just be in my castle... then what will happen when something worse happens? What will I do to you if my father disowns me? How can I trust myself? How can _you_ even trust me anymore?"

Ruby couldn't help but frown, knowing that her girlfriend felt so bad about what had happened. It was nice that she felt bad _abou_t it, but it wasn't nice that she felt bad. She didn't like it when Weiss wasn't happy.

She let out a long breath against the back of the heiress' neck, where she could see goosebumps forming. She knew she had to clearly say this, for Weiss' sake if not for hers. She knew what the heiress really needed. She needed forgiveness.

The chill air and darkness of the room seemed to amplify her words. "Weiss, I forgive you. I already told you, I forgave you a while ago actually, back at the castle. I still love you, I'll always love you, and I'll never, ever, _never ever ever_ let you go."

"But how can you trust-"

Ruby shushed her with a finger to the older girl's lips, which the heiress squealed against in surprise. She turned Weiss around, so that they were facing eachother. The heiress immediately buried her face in the brunette's shoulder.

"Weiss, me saying I love you means I trust you. To me I guess, love equals trust. You can't really have one without the other. Just the fact that you feel so sorry about this means that you'll at least try harder to be nice next time. And _since_ I love you, that's enough for me."

Weiss was silent for a few moments, then spoke up again. "And what happens if I do yell at you again? What then?"

"Well then we'll go from there. Worrying about it isn't going to help anything, I know you, and you're just going to overthink it and tear yourself apart. And I won't have that. Actions speak louder than words, that's what my mom always said. So just don't even worry about it, and next time we're in White Castle, just show me. That sound good?"

Letting out a deep and heartfelt sigh, Weiss nodded her assent against Ruby's shoulder.

"Good. Then let's not worry about that anymore." She ran her fingers through Weiss' hair as she spoke, loving the way the alabaster locks that had to be made of pure silk slipped through her fingers like cold water in a mountain stream. "You were sorry, I forgave you, and it's over."

Weiss grunted something that sounded vaguely like an agreement, and Ruby giggled at the very un-Weiss-like sound.

"Ooh," Ruby gasped, "and what about your knee! Weren't you supposed to get that checked out by that doctor?"

"I don't really know anymore," Weiss replied, removing her face from Ruby's shoulder so she could speak. "My nose is already healed somehow, and my knee feels... it feels fine now. There's no pain, just a dull ache, and when I felt the bones earlier they seemed to all be in the right place."

"Wha... how?"

"If I had to guess, I would say it's the combined strength of our auras. You know a person's aura normally accelerates the healing process, but no one's ever really researched what two of them can do if they're working together, in that strange way that ours do."

"Huh. So I helped heal your knee then without even trying? Cool."

"Was that a pun?" Weiss asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Huh?"

Weiss poked her in the chest. "A pun. Were you making one about it being cool because we're in the coldest place in Remnant, and everyone calls me the Ice Queen?"

Ruby was one hundred percent completely lost. And it must have shown on her face, because Weiss frowned and said: "Forget about it. Ugh. I really need sleep."

"Well duh," Ruby said, recovering quickly from her confusion and giggling. "We haven't slept in like twenty four hours. And now we're together, in a nice warm bed, with no one to bother us. So why aren't we asleep yet?"

"I don't really know," the heiress muttered. Her head flopped back down onto Ruby's shoulder, and then snuggled it's way into the crook of the taller girl's neck.

Ruby hummed in satisfaction, loving the feeling of Weiss' affection as much as she always did. "Good girl Weiss. Let's just go to sleep now."

Weiss attempted to raise her head. "Don't tell me what to-"

But Ruby gently placed her palm on the heiress' forehead, and pressed it back down to its rightful place in the crook of her neck.

"Ssshhhh. Sleep now."

The heiress muttered something incomprehensible, and Ruby fought down a giggle. Weiss somehow managed to be the cutest thing in the entire world, all while attempting to be the exact opposite.

She heard the older girl's breathing slow, and felt a familiar cloud of fatigue start to overtake and swallow her mind. Before she could fade completely, she hummed the opening notes of the lullaby that her mother had taught her long ago, the same one that she had hummed to Weiss on that Ferris wheel many months ago.

And as she felt Weiss subconsciously tighten her arms around her waist, she drifted off into a dreamless slumber. But it wasn't a cold or lonely dark; it was somehow warm and enveloping, because even in the grip of sleep she could feel Weiss' presence beside her. She could feel the older girl's aura melting into and coiling around her own, and it comforted her more than even her mother's cloak did.

And then that warm, enveloping darkness overtook her, and she faded into oblivion with Weiss at her side.

* * *

They slept for almost an entire day. They would both wake up multiple times during the course of it, but then each would quickly return to sleep for various reasons.

Normally Weiss would never let herself sleep like this, since in her eyes it was an utter waste of time and a day that could be spent doing something productive. But when she awoke and her mind encouraged her to rise, her body _and_ aura felt Ruby next to her, the protective embrace around her shoulders, and soft breathing on the sensitive skin on her neck. And then it convinced her to do exactly the opposite. It was the best she had slept in years.

Ruby didn't need as much convincing. Whenever she awoke, she would smile, broad and warm, and try to stay awake as long as possible so that she could savor the feeling of having the most beautiful girl in the world wrapped in her arms. It was the best she had slept in years.

* * *

Weiss had always heard that being in love during wintertime was a beautiful thing. It was technically summer in Atlas, but you would never be able to tell.

So when they finally awoke the next day, they decided to spend their last day in Glasieren together, simply walking around and enjoying the town.

And it certainly was beautiful, Weiss realized. Shared hot chocolate, the taste of mint on your partner's lips when you kiss while no one is looking, laughing in the snow as you attempt to build snow angels and snowmen and fail miserably, but have the best time in the world doing it. Hugging eachother and holding hands – which Weiss reluctantly agreed to, after much convincing and pleading from Ruby – to keep the chill of the wind at bay. Weiss decided she could certainly get used to the cold, as long as Ruby was there with her.

"~It's Christmas time, it's Christmas time, gather up all your friends, it's Christmas time~" Ruby sang, as she and Weiss strode over snow-covered cobblestone.

"It's summer you idiot. We're not anywhere near Christmas," Weiss corrected. But she couldn't keep the grin off of her face, or the smile from tinting her voice. Ruby's happiness was infectious.

"Who cares, it's like always Christmas time here!"

And it certainly seemed so. Clustered around the town were magnificent stands of evergreen trees, colored in shades of the deepest and yet brightest greens imaginable. All they needed was a few lights and maybe a star on top, and you wouldn't be able to tell that December was a good half a year away.

"C'mon Weiss, there's one more thing we have to do before the day ends!" Ruby giggled, grabbing Weiss' hand with both of her own and pulling her down the street. The sun was slowly setting, like it didn't quite want to leave the sky alone just yet. It took its time, leisurely dropping down behind the buildings of the town and shadowing the streets perpendicular to its light in murky darkness. The sunset glittered brilliantly off of the frost and icicles hanging from ledges and windows, and turned the wood of the town a vibrant and majestic gold.

Weiss was momentarily distracted by the sight, and when she turned to see Ruby smiling at her, her breath caught in her throat.

The setting sun shone on her face and her bright smile, and her stormcloud eyes glimmered in the suffusive rays, shading them a mysterious golden-grey that looked like mercury and liquid gold mixed together. Her brown hair looked like the richest chocolate she had ever seen, and the red tips seemed to catch fire and sparkle like rubies in firelight.

Sometimes it struck her, like now, just how beautiful Ruby had truly grown to be. She no longer looked like a naive sixteen year-old, she looked like a nineteen year-old woman with all the life experience and knowledge of a mature huntress in her eyes, tempered by the insatiable happiness and vibrant youth in her smile.

She felt heat rising to her cheeks, and an urge took hold of her, blocking out all rational thought. She quickly glanced up and down the side street they were on, and when she confirmed that it was just the two of them she grabbed Ruby by the neckline of her sweater and pulled, smashing their lips together in a powerful kiss that sent tingles throughout her entire body.

Several long seconds later she pulled away, leaving Ruby crimson-faced and breathless.

"W-Wow..." the brunette breathed. "Um... yeah. I love you too."

Weiss simply smiled, resting her head on Ruby's shoulder. In her head, she swore to herself that she would never intentionally hurt Ruby again, would never treat her like she did at White Castle. And a Schnee never reneges on what she swears.

"So what were we going to do?" Weiss asked, as innocently as possible. The blush on her and Ruby's faces contrasted quite clearly with her tone of voice.

"Uh... snuggle by the fireplace. You know, since like, it's all warm and stuff and it's cold outside and that's the last thing you're supposed to do a winter day... I mean summer... but it's cold... yeah."

"Aw," Weiss chuckled. "Are you having trouble forming coherent sentences?"

"N-No," Ruby stuttered. "It's just hard to talk around you when you look all beautiful in the snow and stuff."

"And here I was going to tell _you_ that you were the beautiful one."

"Oh don't give me that crap Weiss, you've always been the prettier one of us," Ruby said, rubbing slow circles into the heiress' back.

"Maybe to those other stupid superficial people. But you're beautiful to _me_, more than anything else in the world. Don't ever forget that."

"I think my heart just melted."

Weiss chuckled softly, and they held eachother in the cold for a few seconds longer. Then they broke apart, but held onto eachother's hands.

"So where were you planning on finding a fireplace that nobody would see us at?" Weiss asked, trying to sound as honest as she could.

Normally she would tell Ruby how that would be impossible and what a stupid idea it was, but she wasn't willing to shoot the brunette down. Not after the promise she made to herself. Not after the promise she made to Ruby.

So when Ruby told her that, like usual, she didn't have a plan but they would find one anyway, she didn't complain, or scold, or gripe. She simply smiled and nodded.

"I'm glad I have you Ruby. I've had enough of being lonely."

The brunette kissed her again, once on the neck, once on the cheek, and once on the lips.

"Me too."

* * *

It took a while, but they finally found an inn where the priciest room available contained a fireplace. Weiss was proud of herself, as the whole time Ruby dragged her from place to place, inn to inn, she hadn't once reprimanded the younger girl or shown any outward signs of annoyance.

She could do this, she realized. She could change for the better. For Ruby.

So when they dragged the room's only couch in front of the fireplace and sat down on it, and Ruby pulled all the blankets from the bed and wrapped them both in a veritable mountain of cloth, she couldn't help but smile widely, and kiss Ruby as thankfully as she could.

It felt so good to be out of that house, out of that horrible place where her memories clouded her mind and made her forget who she had become. In her mind, she wasn't Weiss Schnee, heiress of Schnee Dust anymore. No, now she was simply Weiss, huntress, member of Team RWBY, and best friend and girlfriend to Ruby Rose.

She liked being simply Weiss much better.

"Wei_sssss_," Ruby groaned. "Are you gonna stop looking all thoughtful and just snuggle with me already?"

The heiress looked down at the other girl from her upright position on the left side of the couch, as the fire blazed in front of them and bathed them in waves of comfortable heat. The brunette was on her back on the other side of the couch, reaching her arms out towards Weiss. Which, coupled with those irresistibly adorable grey eyes and her "kicked puppy" expression, had Weiss giving in and laying down with her not a second later.

Ruby wrapped her arms around the small of the heiress' back and hummed, and Weiss lay her head on Ruby's collarbone. The brunette's skin was cool and soft against her cheek, and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation as she wrapped her own arms around Ruby's neck.

"What all were you thinking about anyway?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, you mostly," the heiress replied.

"Yeah?" Ruby responded, sounding mildly amused. "What about me?"

"Just how much you've done for me and how grateful I am for you. I know I've said that many times before, but it never stops feeling this wonderful. I can't necessarily show you how much you mean to me right now, so I'm forced to try and tell you with words."

"What do you mean? We're k_iii_nd of snuggling right now. I'd say you're showing me just fine."

"I mean... I heard a quote once. It said that people are like stained glass. They shine and sparkle during the day, but when darkness sets in, their true beauty only shines through if they have a light within."

Ruby nodded, her chin lightly touching the crown of Weiss' head. "I like that one."

"I think a time of darkness also equates to hardships and troubles in life," Weiss continued. "We're not really going through a time of hardship right now. Well I mean I know there's my family and all, but it's not like they're here at this moment. So of course it's easy to be close to you right now, when there's not too much to worry about in the immediate future."

She sighed, and basked for a second in a gentle warmth of two parts. One part emanating from the burning hearth, and the other from Ruby's body pressed up against hers. She loved being warm.

"When things truly get bad, _that's_ when I'll be able to show you what you mean to me. If the Grimm somehow injure you, _that's_ when I'll get to show you by staying at your side during the entire recovery process. If my family forces me to choose between you and the Schnee dynasty, _that's_ when I'll get to show you by choosing to stay with you. I have to show you with actions when it's hard to, when it truly counts. Does that make sense?"

She felt Ruby kiss the top of her head. "Perfect sense. I love you too."

She chuckled. "Dunce, I haven't said that yet."

Ruby lightly ran her fingers up and down Weiss' bare arm, trailing her nails over the flawless, porcelain skin and left a lingering kiss on the heiress' cheek. It felt like electricity to Weiss; each touch was more heart-stopping and spine-tingling than the last.

"Yeah you have," Ruby whispered.

* * *

It was time for them to leave; Weiss' parents would be back at _Der Turm Weiße_ soon.

The drive seemed to take forever, as they traveled back up into the impossibly towering mountains of northern Atlas. The only thing they could see, besides indistinct shadows and blurred snowfall, was what was illuminated by the powerful headlights of the car.

The air seemed expectant, heavy with silence and the weight of what might happen.

So Weiss tried to fill it with words. Not necessarily her own, but she needed to hear Ruby's voice, the same way she needed to feel her girlfriend's fingers entangled in her own. Which they were. One hand on the wheel, the other holding Ruby's.

"Ruby," she began, "whatever happens, I want you to know that I love you, and I'll try my hardest to treat you right, and make the right choices."

"I know you will," Ruby replied. It sounded like there was a smile in her voice. "What are you so super nervous about anyway? I mean there's the obvious, but what's really so bad about your parents?"

Weiss sighed. "My mother... she's what you'd expect of someone married into the family. She's smart, and cold, and utilizes the prestige and power of Schnee Dust like she was born to it. I don't think she truly loves my father. But she loves his money, and she loves being able to do whatever she wants. She's that type of woman. And she'll be upfront with you about it too; she's brutally honest in the worst way possible. Kind of like how I used to be back when we first met."

"Hmm. And your father?"

"My father..." Weiss tightened her grip on Ruby's hand. "My father is a different story. He's intelligent too, but terribly so. Smart in a scary way, the kind where you never know what he's thinking or what he's going to do. It's one of the reasons why he basically rules Atlas. He doesn't tolerate failure or disrespect in the slightest, so please, watch yourself around him. He's all smiles and the embodiment of polite disinterest, until you piss him off. Then, he's terrifying."

Her scar itched, as intentionally long-buried memories resurfaced and ached in her mind. She hesitated before continuing, wondering if she should tell Ruby how she truly got the scar over her right eye. But her girlfriend and partner deserved to know, now more than ever.

"Remember how I told you I got this scar?"

"Uh, yeah, fencing accident right?"

"I wish that were so. I'm ashamed to say I lied to you."

Ruby squeezed her hand back. "Don't feel sorry Weiss. Please don't. I'm sure you had a good reason."

"One day..." Weiss began, "I was learning how to cook. They brought in a master chef from down south, and he was teaching me the proper way to cut different meats. My parents apparently thought it was an important skill, another appealing factor for a man of high stature to be satisfied with when he took me as his wife."

The thought apparently made Ruby frown, as could practically feel her unhappiness through her aura. And a surge of protectiveness too, as well as... jealousy?

"Yeah," Ruby said, "but you're mine now. And I'm not gonna let anyone take you away."

"R-Right. But anyway, I was cutting the meat, and apparently I must have done something wrong. The chef didn't say anything, but my father had been watching from behind us. I don't really remember what I did, but the next second he had snatched the knife and was brandishing it in front of my face, screaming about what a disgrace I was, and how no one would ever want to marry me if I couldn't do something as simple as cook..." she trailed off.

The thrum of the engine increased, and she realized that she had unconsciously pressed the accelerator to the floor. She eased up, and heard Ruby growl next to her. The memory was painful, and she was having difficulty talking about it. Ruby was the first person she'd actually told, and it even hurt to tell it to _her_.

"Please don't tell me this is going where I think it is," the brunette muttered.

"So, being the stubborn girl I am, I actually argued back, telling him that maybe I didn't _want_ to be married off to some man I didn't know. And then he did the scariest thing I've ever seen. He glared at me with this... this look of complete fury and rage. He turned away without a word and started storming out of the room. I actually thought I'd won. So I said one little word. 'Good.' He must have heard. Because then he turned around and threw the knife at me."

Ruby gasped sharply, and Weiss could feel the sympathetic pain through their aura. "I'm gonna kill him," the brunette growled.

"No, no you won't," Weiss sighed. "He's the most powerful man in the world for a reason; you'd be dead before you could even get close. Even with _your_ semblance."

"Yeah well I can sure fuckin' try."

"Don't cuss. It's not a good sound for you."

"Arrghh... fine," Ruby relented. "Just for you."

"So he leaves without looking back, and I get my eye bandaged up. But it scarred, and he refused to let me have it fixed with regenerative surgery. He said he wanted me to remember it, to remember the price of failure, and the cost of angering him."

Ruby said nothing, simply held her chin in her free hand and stared straight ahead at the road. Weiss glanced at her sidelong, and lamented that even now, her father was causing her pain. And not just her, but Ruby as well. She decided then that if he disowned her, it would be a good thing. Anything to get away from him, to sever the ties and burn the bridges. To get away from him, no matter what it took. Maybe she'd even ask to leave the family herself.

"I just..." she continued. "I just can't help but feel ashamed about it sometimes. I don't care if I failed him or not, but I just hate that my own father... that my own father did this to me. That he could mark me like that, permanently, and there was nothing I could do about it. That someone could control me that much."

"Weiss," Ruby stated. Her voice was clear and full of conviction. It was almost startling how determined she sounded. "Listen to me. _Never_ be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you. You're stronger than he is, because you can break away from the most powerful family in the world. You can break away from the generations before you; I _know_ you can. Imperfections are what make us beautiful. And all I want to do is yell and scream at your father and probably hurt him a little, or a lot, but I'm just going to keep calm. Because that's what you need right now."

Weiss didn't say anything in reply; she didn't know if there was anything that could be said after that. So she simply squeezed Ruby's hand again, and the brunette squeezed back.

And they drove on into the night, through the swirling snow, back to Weiss' home.

Back to White Castle. To face whatever might await them.

Weiss knew she was ready. She was calm, and she could feel through their shared auras that Ruby was the same. Moreover she was determined, she was resolute, and she was prepared.

To finally face her father, to stand up to him, and to take control of her life. For her sake, and for Ruby's.

* * *

_**So I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I can assure you that yes, you will actually get to meet Weiss' parents in the next one. Where things will go from there is up in the air, at least for you.  
**_

_**So if you'd kindly drop a review, one thing in particular I'd like is some feedback on is the descriptions I wrote. Mostly of those instances when the sunlight shines off Ruby's face and turns her eyes "into pools of mercury," and blah blah. It sounds good to me, but prose is subjective and it might sound horrible to someone else. So please, let me know how I did on that.**_

_**I really hope you all enjoyed it. Oh and the song from the beginning is Jagged Gorgeous Winter by The Main Drag.**_


	14. Chapter 12 - Frostbitten

**Everyone says love hurts, but that is not true. Loneliness hurts. Rejection hurts. Losing someone hurts. Envy hurts. Everyone gets these things confused with love, but in reality love is the only thing in this world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again. ****_**Love is the only thing in this world that does not hurt.**_**

* * *

_**This is my promise to write to you**_  
_**So for you my every word**_  
_**Is the sinking feeling here in my chest**_  
_**I am so far from home but the further away we are the closer I am**_

_**The closer I feel, the further you get**_  
_**My hands hold on tight to your every word**_  
_**I won't let go, but I feel my eyes advert from who I used to be**_

_**We know the storms will come**_  
_**The winds they will sweep us all away**_  
_**Wrap me in your silver lining**_

_**Torn between the roots of earth and the sky**_  
_**I left my heart behind, and I'm so far from home**_  
_**The weight is pulling me down, in your circles I am spinning  
In your circles I'll wait forever**_

_**Lost control, my hands grip the wheel  
But I can't see where the road is leading  
Please hold on dear I know you're worried  
Counting down the days do you remember?**_

_**Torn between the earth and the sky, I left my heart behind  
**_

* * *

_Der Turm Weiße_ was just as impressive the second time around.

But this time, impressive wasn't the only word Ruby would use to describe it.

Dismal, gloomy, sinister, ominous, those were the words that came to mind when she looked at it this time, through the frosted windows of the car. The imposing battlements and towers made it look like a fortress preparing for war, not a home.

Although as she turned the word 'impressive' around in her mind, she couldn't help but think that maybe even that wasn't the right word.

_Intimidating. _

_"There we go, that one fits," _she thought to herself._ "Intimidating."_

Slowly, Weiss drove the sleek car across the massive, monolithic bridge separating White Castle from the rest of the mountain. Ruby could almost _feel_ the tension in the still air of the car, like a tangible thing, like an oppressive fog encroaching on the edge of her vision.

"Are you even sure they're home yet?" the brunette whispered.

Weiss pointed up, to the top of the massive white tower that rose out of the structure like a spear stuck into a corpse. "See that blue light up there?"

There was indeed a light, or what looked to be a large beacon of some sort, set in the top of the tower. It would have been vaguely reminiscent of a lighthouse, if lighthouses were thousands of feet tall, burned bright blue, and were on the peaks of mountains. It shone strong and balefully, like a town burning in the distance. It lit up the black space of the stratosphere around it, and it was almost like the tower was watching them with a single burning eye of cobalt.

"That light is on whenever my father is home. It's like his... signal."

"Yeesh," Ruby muttered. "That's a little..."

"Vainglorious? Conceited? _Arrogant_?" Weiss growled.

"Uh... yeah, that. For real, are you gonna be okay Weiss?"

The heiress declined to respond, instead taking a deep breath and tightening her grip on both the wheel and Ruby's hand. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, but when they opened again, they shone with strength and determination.

"Yes. I'll be fine Ruby. I have to be."

* * *

They used the front entrance this time.

Although it was more a side entrance than a front entrance, since the front of White Castle was mostly battlements, ramparts, and well-disguised armor plating.

They pulled up in a large cul-de-sac just like the ones Ruby had always seen mansions to have. Although truth be told, the ones she had seen in the movies weren't ringed by trees carved out of solid ice. There was a fountain in the middle as well, but even the water in that was frozen, suspended in mid-air. It was like time had ceased to flow up here at the top of the world.

A balding man in a white suit – presumably a butler – was waiting for them, and took the keys from Weiss once they had stepped out into the cold. The air this high up felt like a blast from a raging blizzard, and Ruby immediately felt herself start to shiver. The air itself was a problem as well: it was too thin and made every breath a labor.

The butler bowed to Weiss. "Your parents are waiting for you in the dining room Mistress Schnee."

"Dining room?" The heiress looked confused. "But it's not time for a meal."

"They aren't eating Mistress. Simply waiting for you."

"Great," she heard Weiss mutter under her breath. They turned away and began walking towards the entrance.

"Is that a bad thing?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. It means they want a talk. And almost definitely a long one."

Ruby nodded. "Right. Are you going to be okay?"

The heiress turned to her with a bemused expression on her face. "You keep asking that, and I'll keep saying I'm fine. If I'm not fine, I'll tell you. Or at least I'll try to."

"That's what I mean," Ruby replied. "I _know_ you have trouble telling me when you're nervous. So just be honest. Are you?"

"Nervous?" Weiss asked. She turned and looked out at the pristine white slopes, at the barren rocks of the mountainside, at White Castle and at the endless ocean of clouds that stretched out past the horizon. They coiled and drifted in the atmosphere, forming all kinds of strange and peculiar shapes. Thunderheads bulldozed through the more peaceful looking clouds, doubtlessly on their way to bring down the fury of the heavens on the world below.

Ruby felt somehow detached, seeing things from up here. It was like they were above the world, out of reach of the worldly problems and cares of the mortals down below.

Instead of rain, they would soon deal with a man who owned nearly half the world. The closest thing to a god that Remnant had, at least as far as Ruby knew.

Yes, they were far above the concerns of mortals now.

And then Weiss finally answered her.

"I am..." the heiress whispered, to Ruby and Ruby only. "I am. I _am_ nervous."

Ruby simply took her hand and squeezed.

* * *

As they stood in front of the white-wood, silver-engraved doors of the dining room, Ruby could _feel_ Weiss' anxiety through her aura. It was like a tangible thing, a fog of uncertainty, hesitation, and fear that swirled around the heiress and made Ruby's heart ache for her.

She hated to see Weiss like this; it was one of the reasons she had befriended her in the first place. She only ever wanted Weiss to be happy, to feel good. And right now, she certainly wasn't.

But Ruby steeled herself, because this _needed_ to happen. This _had_ to be done. For Weiss to ever truly break free from the shackles of her family and the legacy of her namesake, this _had_ to happen.

"Hey," Ruby whispered. Her voice seemed to fill the hallway they stood in, which was just as dark and empty as before. "I'm right here. No matter what happens, I'll be with you. I'll be right by your side the whole way. Okay?"

The heiress stared at the door, her ice-blue eyes filled with trepidation. She nodded once, gave Ruby's hand a final squeeze, and then let it drop.

And then she put one hand on each of the doors, and pushed.

* * *

"Ah! There she is, my dear daughter!"

A man at the far end of the dining table stood and began to make his way over to them. His face was witheringly handsome, his hair jet-black, and his suit of onyx and silver pristine and creased to perfection.

"Hello father." Weiss curtsied, which was possible because she had changed into a simple white dress upon their return from Glaseiren.

"Hello to you too my dear. And who is your friend? Ah, wait, don't tell me."

The man stopped short in front of them, held his chin in his hand, and frowned. It fit his face much better than the half-hearted smile he had been wearing earlier. The same one that Weiss used to wear, back at Beacon.

"You must be Ruby Rose, huntress-in-training, and my daughter's partner. Correct?"

"Yes sir," Ruby replied. She didn't curtsy, but she settled for a short bow.

"Ah, none of that now," the man said, that fake smile now back on his face. "You are a guest of my daughter, and of this house."

He held out his hand, presumably for Ruby to shake. So she brought up her own hand, but instead of shaking it, the man brought it to his lips and pressed a chaste kiss to her fingertips. At the same time, she felt Weiss' aura flare with a surge of anger and protectiveness.

"I am Verrückt Schnee. Welcome to my house."

Ruby was struck dumb. She nodded, her eyes wide, and did her best to look as dignified and collected as she could. She stepped back to stand next to Weiss, as her father launched into a history of the Schnee family and _Der Turm Weiße_.

But she wasn't listening, because she was struggling to make sense of him. He was all wrong. Judging from how Weiss talked about him, he should have been large, ugly, with a mean personality and an even meaner expression.

But this man wasn't like that at all. This man was calm, and refined, and handsome. He had been nothing but polite so far, and he treated her like a guest of his household, not like the nuisance she had expected to be treated like. There was a strange warmth, a type of fire in his eyes.

But as she stared into them, she realized that it wasn't the kind of fire that warmed and comforted in the dead of night. It was the fire that burned; the flame that devoured households and left you scarred inside. The same type of fire that had consumed the opera house.

In a way, he felt wrong, but she couldn't put her finger on exactly why. And that was disturbing. Because she was already warming to him, and that _wasn't_ supposed to happen.

"Ah, but I digress," Verrückt said, pulling her out of her thoughts. He stood and gazed out of the dining room windows with a wry smirk on his face. "Weiss, we'll be having dinner soon. Viktoria will be joining us, and someone _else_ too. Someone I want you to meet. So please, take your friend up and why don't you both change into something nice?"

Weiss clasped her hands in front of herself and bowed. "Yes Father. Will dinner be held at-"

"Six in the evening. Like always." He turned, and directed that somehow not-quite-right smirk at Weiss. "Don't be late. And try to look your best. The heir apparent of the Utiandor family, your future husband, doesn't like to be disappointed. And from what I've heard, he's also got quite the temper."

Ruby felt her blood freeze in her veins. And through their shared aura, she felt Weiss' do the same.

Verrückt Schnee smiled at his daughter, and this time it chilled her to the core. "So do your best not to upset him, hmm?"

* * *

Ruby moved as carefully as she could, running the soft bristles of the brush she was holding through Weiss' snow-white hair in slow, repetitive motions. It was one of her favorite things to do, but right now, she'd rather be doing almost anything else. She'd rather be doing anything other than dressing Weiss up for the man she was set to be betrothed to.

Weiss had explained that much. Clar Utiandor, heir of the Utiandor family of Mistral – which, coincidentally, had been their ruling family back in the days of the Kingdoms – was the man that her parents had decided she would be betrothed to. In theory it was quite advantageous, for both parties. Weiss had met him before, and the man was smart, strong, and good-looking like only nobility could be. And he had already proven that he knew how to run a business. He had been running most of Mistral's mining corporations for the past few years, and once Verrückt took him under his wing, it was almost guaranteed that the man would become the latest and greatest in the long line of Schnees.

In theory, it was quite advantageous for everyone. Everyone except for Weiss.

And to Ruby, that was the only person that really mattered.

She had already helped the heiress change into a flowing navy-blue gown, one that accented her eyes and fit perfectly around her petite figure.

She fingered one of the earrings Weiss was wearing, a simple hoop of real silver, as the heiress let out a long breath. She was sitting on the bench in front of her dresser, and she opened her eyes and stared at herself in the mirror.

"What should I do Ruby?" she asked in a gentle whisper.

"What should you do? You should go tell them to screw off, that's what you should do," she muttered.

"That won't work and you know it. They'll never give up, _he'll_ never give up. The fate of the company, and the entire Schnee _dynasty_ depends on it."

"Well what do you want me to say then? Go ahead and leave me? Go marry that guy and forget I ever existed?"

"_No_, no Ruby that's not what I meant..." The heiress shut her eyes and let out a shuddering breath.

Ruby forced as much seriousness and weight into her next question as she could. "Then what did you mean?"

"I meant..."

"You told me that you always wanted to be with me, remember? You said you didn't want to live in a world without me in it. If you choose his way, that's the world you'll be forced to live in. I don't belong..." Ruby gestured around the room. "...Here. This isn't my world."

Weiss didn't say anything.

"You had all this conviction and all this... this _drive_ when we were coming up here. To finally stand up to your father and give him the big 'screw you, this is my life!' What happened to that?"

"I just... You don't know what it's like to try and stand up to him Ruby. He just _crushes_ you."

Ruby frowned, gazing at herself in the mirror. "I don't know, he didn't even seem half-bad back there."

"That's not the real Verrückt Schnee," Weiss muttered. "That's how he acts when he wants something. When he's playing nice. Trust me, you'll see him for what he truly is soon enough."

"Alright but still, all that aside, what about us? What about what we were going to be?"

"Us?" Weiss stared at Ruby in the mirror, a blank expression on her face.

"Yes, us! All that talk about being together, all that stuff about stained glass windows and crap, about being able to show me how grateful you are through actions, and not just words!"

She felt a strange weight in the pit of her stomach, and as she looked at Weiss' tenebrous face, it grew and her heart sank into it. The fact that her girlfriend actually seemed to be considering just giving in... it gave the lie to everything Weiss had said in the past few months.

But she wasn't going to give up yet. Deep down Ruby was a fighter, underneath all the bubbliness and awkwardness. It was why she liked weapons so much; it was why she became a Huntress. She had fought for Weiss for the past three years: every step in their relationship had been an uphill battle. She had to fight to be her partner, she had to fight to be her friend, and she had to fight to be her girlfriend. So she was _not_ going to stop fighting now. Not when it truly mattered.

So even though hot tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, she moved to kneel in front of the heiress, placing both hands on her shoulders. Weiss stared at her in shock and confusion, although it looked like there the beginnings of tears in her eyes as well.

"_Weiss_. Listen to me. This is it. This is where you have to choose. Me, or them. Your family is rich and powerful, sure. But they can't give you happiness like I can. I _know_ I can make you happy, and I've proved it since we've been together, _truly_ together. I know you want to uphold your legacy and your family's traditions, but is it worth it at the cost of your own happiness? At the cost for your own life? Are you willing to give up your entire future for them?"

"...Ruby," the heiress breathed. "I..."

"Just listen!" Ruby started, nearly shaking Weiss by her shoulders. "You have to decide! And I know this is selfish, but don't forget about me either! Don't you dare forget about me! I love you with all my heart, more than I've ever loved or cared about anything else in my entire life." Her voice started to crack; she started to lose her composure. "I've literally given you my heart. I told you I'd never leave you, and I'd never let you go. All I want is to make you happy Weiss; that's all I've ever wanted..."

She took a deep breath, then opened her eyes again and stared her partner dead in the face. "This is my promise. My promise to you. If you stay with me, I will do _everything_ I possibly can to make you happy every second of every hour of every day. No matter what it takes, no matter what I have to do, that is my_ promise_ to you."

She felt a single tear spill from her left eye, and her voice broke again. So she spoke in a gentle whisper. "So don't you _leave me_. Don't you leave me Weiss, don't you _dare_ leave me alone again."

A tear rolled forth from the heiress' cheek as well, and she brought a hand up and cupped Ruby's cheek with a look of utter sorrow on her pale, fragile face.

"So choose," Ruby breathed. "Them, or me."

* * *

For the second time that day, Ruby watched her girlfriend, best friend, and partner place her hands on the double doors to the dining room. The heiress stared at them, then down at the floor. Her expression was unreadable; her face impassive. It was like she was somehow detached from reality.

And then she spoke.

"Ruby, what is love?"

"W-What? What is love?" The question caught the brunette completely by surprise; she hadn't been expecting Weiss to say anything at all. The heiress had been dead silent since Ruby had posed her question up in Weiss' bedroom.

"Love is..." Ruby's voice dropped to a whisper. "Love is giving up everything for another person. It's putting another person before yourself; it's considering their needs and wants before your own. It's about wanting to make them happy and caring for them; when you don't really give a crap about anything besides how they feel. It's when you care for them with every bit of your energy and your soul. When you care for them so much that it hurts. That's... that's what love is to me."

"...And do you love me, Ruby?"

Ruby knew she had already said it a hundred times before. But she could tell by the sheer desperation and _want_ in Weiss' voice, the driving _need_ to be affirmed, that she needed to, and would, say it again.

So she did. "Weiss, I love you. With every bit of my heart and soul, until the end of time."

The heiress was motionless for a few seconds, and Ruby could almost hear the tortured thoughts that must have been running through her head. Then she nodded, as if to herself, and pushed the doors open.

* * *

Bright light flooded into the hallway, and Ruby had to squint her eyes to adjust to the sudden change.

The dining hall was taken up by a massive, ornate table set with an embroidered white cloth, and laden with all manner of foods. Roast duck, sausages, some type of sliced potatoes, vegetables and fruits of all colors and climes. Meats, breads beyond counting, and pitchers of various liquids that looked like they must have been made out of pure diamond. Ruby didn't doubt that they were.

Overhead was a crystal chandelier that looked outrageously expensive to her, yet somehow felt crushingly oppressive instead of awe-inspiring.

To the right of the table were thin, tall windows that offered a view of the mountainside – or would have if they weren't currently being bombarded by a cold gray sleet.

It was the setting for an end. But an end to what, she wasn't sure.

Weiss stepped inside with her hands folded in front of her: the picture of stately grace and elegance. As much as she wanted to keep her eyes on her girlfriend, Ruby scanned the table.

Only three seats were occupied. At the head of the table was Verrückt Schnee, lord and master of the household, looking every bit the part. That same wry smile was back on his face as he watched his daughter stride across the room, his eyes caught somewhere between concern and excitement. It made Ruby nervous – more so than she already was.

To his left was a tall, severe looking woman with long white hair that fell down to the floor behind her seat. Her eyes were the strangest shade: a dull crimson tinged with flecks of blood-red in the center. She wore a flowing white dress with a extremely low cut, and her bust was quite the eye-catcher. Her eyebrows were white as well, and seemed to be stuck in a perpetual expression that was couldn't choose between disdain and outright contempt. It was the same look Weiss used to wear back at Beacon. This must be her mother, Ruby realized. Apparently the heiress had gotten her mother's looks and her hair color, but not her chest size or her height. Strange.

And on the other side of Weiss' father, two seats down, was a tall, rakishly handsome young man with strawberry-blonde hair. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five. His lips seemed to be set in a perpetual sneer that somehow did nothing to offset his good looks, but his eyes were those of a hawk, and the way he watched Weiss with the eyes of an airborne predator set a deep uneasiness in her stomach. He was going to be a problem, she could already tell. She had a good eye for people, and right now her eye was conflicted: telling her to throw up and punch him at the same time. Maybe she could throw up on him _while_ she punched him.

Ruby looked at all of them in turn, and decided that she didn't like a single one of them. And as it was stated before: she normally had a good eye for those types of things.

An expectant silence permeated the air as Weiss strode across the room to the head of the table, before curtsying to her father and taking a seat next to her mother. Her seat was directly across from the heir whose name she was struggling to remember.

Uncertain of where to sit and glad that all eyes were on Weiss, she coughed lightly and slipped into the seat next to her girlfriend. Or, as the rest of the room believed, simply her partner. She didn't expect the others at the table would be too receptive of _that_ particular revelation.

Then finally someone spoke, breaking the silence like an icepick to an ice sculpture.

"Splendid," Verrückt Schnee said. His voice was clear and sharp, and rung through the hall and seemed to echo from the chandelier than hung over their heads. He stood and raised his glass of what appeared to be a dark beer. "Now that we're all here, a toast to my lovely daughter, and her continued success at Beacon Academy."

Everyone raised their glasses as well, and Ruby quickly followed suit.

Everyone said 'prost!' and although Ruby didn't know what it meant, she said it too, slightly behind everyone else. No one seemed to notice though, as they all took drinks from their glasses and then set them down almost in unison. Then they started eating, picking and choosing from the veritable cornucopia of food in front of them. But they did things... properly, was the only way she could think of it. Each setting had four forks, three knives, and two spoons. And she had absolutely no clue what each was for.

She glanced over at Weiss, and watched her pick up the leftmost fork and use it to start picking at a strange looking salad. Not knowing what else to do, she followed suit.

"Now then: time for introductions proper," Weiss' father said. "Clar Utiandor, heir apparent to the house of Utiandor, this is my daughter, Weiss Schnee. I am sure she will be as useful to you as she was to me, once you take her hand in marriage."

Weiss blanched slightly, and although Ruby wanted to immediately object, she kept her mouth shut in a firm, hard line. This wasn't her realm to interfere in; she had no experience in this world of politicking and maneuvering. Weiss knew how to handle this. And besides, it was time to put their relationship to the test. Time to see if Weiss truly wanted this as badly as she did. To see if Weiss truly loved her.

"Marriage?" Weiss pantomimed. "I don't remember being involved in any decision regarding my imminent marriage to a man I have hardly met."

As Ruby watched, Verrückt's eyes flashed with something – maybe anger – so quickly that she couldn't be sure if they had even changed at all. He smiled vaguely at Clar, who managed to look quite surprised despite himself.

"Excuse my daughter," he laughed, "she was recently part of a serious altercation involving the White Fang, and barely managed to escape with her life. I imagine she is still distraught, an not in full control of herself"

"An altercation?" Weiss questioned. "It was an assassination attempt, _Father_."

This time his eyes _definitely_ flashed, and there was _definitely_ anger in them. And despite herself, it scared her.

But he quickly regained his composure. "Well, be that as it may, the perpetrators were dealt with swiftly and severely. Disgusting creatures," he scoffed.

"Faunus always are," Clar added. "Nothing better than vermin, at least in my personal experience."

Weiss' parents agreed politely, but Ruby could only stare down at her food and struggle to contain the anger that was threatening to burst from her. All she could think of was Blake, of how these pathetic excuses for human beings were calling her _disgusting_, an _animal_, _vermin_.

Just as she was about to speak out, Weiss did it for her.

"Faunus are not animals," she muttered quietly. She picked up a small spoon with a slightly bent handle, and began taking light sips from her soup bowl. It was a wonder she could find the strength to eat; Ruby could only stare at her food in disgust.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Clar asked. "I must have heard you wrong. I thought you said that... faunus aren't animals?"

"That's exactly what I said," Weiss replied, her voice a dull monotone, startlingly reminiscent of Blake's.

Her father let out a barking laugh that shook the table, and made Ruby cringe. There was no real humor or warmth behind it, just derision and condemnation. It was more a jeer than a laugh.

"It seems Beacon Academy has changed you for the worse, my _dear_ daughter." He paused, wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, then reclined in his chair and locked eyes with Weiss. "It's just as well though, now that I have finally found a suitable... suitor, I suppose, there's no need for you to continue attending that paltry excuse for a school."

He smirked at the shocked expression that flashed across the heiress' face. Clar grinned too, and Ruby wanted nothing more than to put the fork that was trembling in her fist through his eye. Weiss' mother simply sat there, impassive as ever.

"But... Father, you promised me that I would be able to complete my education there!"

"I promised you absolutely nothing Weiss. I simply agreed to let you attend, contingent on your steady, and verifiable success. I consider your _warped_ views on a _lesser_ race verification enough, that you aren't gaining anything from your... _education_ there.

Weiss set her spoon down on the table. "You can't _do_ this to me! This is my decision to make; you can't just decide that without me!"

Verrückt didn't even look angry at that. He looked surprised though, taken aback. "Have you forgotten your place? I am your father. I am the head of this household. I can do whatever I want." He made it sound like they were the most obvious facts in the world, and to him, perhaps they were.

"But I can't leave now! Not when I'm so close to graduating!" the heiress continued. She glanced at Ruby out of the corner of her eye as she spoke, as her nervous gaze flickered around the room as she looked for some sort of support. The brunette kept her gaze as resolute as possible. The heiress had to find the help she needed within herself.

"Weiss," her father monotoned, "what part of 'you are my daughter, and you answer to me' don't you understand?"

"The part where I don't have any say in the matter!"

"Your daughter has quite the mouth on her," Clar snickered. Ruby grit her teeth. Letting Weiss do this on her own was getting harder by the second.

"It would appear she does," Verrückt agreed, resting his chin in his palm and gazing at his daughter.. He sighed, and then sat straight up, drawing himself to his full, imposing height. "Daughter _dearest_, let me make this as cut and dry as I _possibly_ can."

He leaned forward and grinned, showing a mouthful of sparkling, perfect teeth. "You are _not_ going back to Beacon Academy. You _will_ stay here, and in a few short months, you _will_ be engaged to Clar Utiandor. You _will_ marry him, he _will_ take over in my stead, and you_ will_ further the Schnee dynasty. _Do you understand_?"

Weiss bowed her head, and closed her eyes. And through her aura, Ruby felt a strange sort of calm radiating from the heiress. It filled her with hope, and anticipation. Was this it? Was Weiss finally about to defy her father?"

A simple whisper, one word, filled the entire room.

"No."

Clar dropped his fork and coughed, choking on something in his throat. Viktoria Schnee looked aghast, stuck somewhere between disbelief and horror. At this point, Ruby wondered if she was mute.

But Verrückt only smiled wider.

"I'm sorry, what?" he asked.

"I said... no," Weiss breathed. "No, I will not. I finish my training at Beacon, and only then will I return here, to decide if _I_ want to take your _suggestions_ about my life into consideration. And above all, I will not marry that snickering hyena across the table from me."

Clar looked enraged. He glared at the heiress in utter fury, and Ruby couldn't help but notice that only a few feet separated them across the table. Weiss didn't appear to care though: she glared right back at him with equal fury.

Verrückt cleared his throat, drawing her gaze, and the rest of the room's, to him. His eyes were glittering for some reason, and he looked relaxed as he leaned back into his chair. "Clar, that was an personal insult, if I am not mistaken. A direct affront to your honor."

The heir apparent looked confused for a second, but nodded all the same.

"And what happens in Mistral when someone insults your honor? When a _woman_ insults your honor? You don't duel her, do you? If I remember correctly, only _men_ are allowed to duel. No, a woman must be put in her place. Clar, as this is my household, I give you permission to do _exactly _that_._"

He turned his hand over and inspected his nails, apparently dismissing the conversation. And Clar pushed back his chair, and stood up.

Tension hung in the air like smoke. Every single eye in the room, except for Verrückt's, were on him, as he walked around the table and headed directly towards Weiss with a malicious grin on his too-handsome face.

Ruby couldn't believe what was happening. Surely this was all some joke, Weiss' father wouldn't let anything happen to his daughter in his own house.

Wouldn't he?

Clar walked right up to Weiss, who stared at him in disbelief. And then he smacked her across the face with the back of his hand. So hard it knocked the glass of champagne she was holding across the table.

And for Ruby, time stopped. She could see everything, every drop of every liquid, every particle and every atom completely frozen in time.

She could see Viktoria Schnee with a self-satisfied smirk. She could see Verrückt Schnee tucking into his roasted potatoes, too busy eating to watch his own daughter being smacked in the face by a man he hardly knew. She could see Clar Utiandor with his hand still outstretched, with the look of a laughing hyena frozen on his face.

And she could see Weiss, her head knocked to the side from the blow, her mouth open with shock. Her cheek a bright red, her eyes a bright blue, and the champagne in her glass a bright gold as it hung, suspended, in the air over the table.

And then the world was the same angry red as Weiss' cheek, her vision a rage-tinted crimson as she vaulted over the table, grabbed Clar, and slammed him into the wall over and over again by his neck and his forearm.

His eyes went wide with terror and it felt like a demon awoke inside of her, something that warped and twisted her aura as she felt the overpowering need to _kill_ _him_, to watch his ruby blood spill out and cover the floor, to mutilate his body and listen to his screams.

But just as quickly as it came over her it disappeared, like magma hitting the ocean, leaving a terrible calm that burned the back of her eyes.

With every bit of the strength she had gained by wielding Crescent Rose for years, she held him up against the wall by his throat, staring into his panic-filled eyes as he writhed and struggled to escape.

She let go, and he fell to the floor and lay there, gasping for breath and struggling to rise.

The only sound then was the scraping of a chair on the marble floor, and she looked over to see Verrückt on his feet, glaring at her with the same somehow-calm rage that she felt inside.

"You are lucky, Ruby Rose, that I do not have you killed, right here, right now. But I am with guests, you _were_ a guest, and I _was_ in a good mood..."

She stared right back, clenching her fists and breathing heavily.

"So instead you will leave. You are no longer a guest of my household. You will leave my house immediately, and you will never come back. I will go to Beacon Academy myself, and I will personally ensure that you never come near my daughter again. I see now where her errant behavior stems from."

"Like hell," Ruby snarled. "_You're_ lucky I don't-"

"No."

All eyes turned to Weiss, drawn by her words that burned with all the fury and cold of a raging blizzard, of a glacier that could crush ancient stone and carve canyons in the fabric of the world itself.

"No, she is not leaving. _We're_ leaving. Together."

The heiress stood, drawing her shoulders back and standing as tall as she could. "And _Father_," she said, almost spitting the word, "I fully intend to _never_ return. I hereby _renounce_ my family name, and I _disown_ the Schnee line and all the rights, inheritances, and titles associated with it. This I swear today. Let all who are present take note."

"Y-You can't-" her father sputtered.

"I can. And I am."

With that, the heiress spun on her heel, grabbed Ruby's hand, and strode from the room.

Ruby had no qualms leaving: her chest was filled with pride and vindication. And an overwhelming joy, because Weiss had finally stood up for herself and claimed her life as her own.

Verrückt said nothing, choosing to simply glare at them as they walked from the room, hand in hand.

Just as she cleared the threshold of the doors they had entered through, Weiss paused. Not bothering to face them, she said: "And Ruby isn't just my partner. She's my girlfriend, and the love of my life."

Then she walked out of the room and down the hall, her heels clacking on the smooth floor and filling the silence that had fallen in the wake of conflict.

"Weiss, I'm super proud of you and all," Ruby whispered as they walked, "but how are we gonna get back? I doubt your father will let use a limo after that."

"You remember the car we took to Glasieren, the Wasenschiest UTX?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"My father had the title for it signed in my name. It's technically mine, and he can't do anything about that now."

"Oh. Well, uh, good. I'm super proud of you by the way."

The heiress smirked. "You already said that. But I'm proud of myself too."

* * *

They drove down the mountain again, Weiss clutching the wheel with one hand and Ruby's with the other, as the snow and evergreen trees whipped by them.

They had stopped for only one thing before they left: the stuffed wolf plush in the heiress' room. She had left behind almost all of her worldly possessions, her clothes, her jewelry, her books, everything. The only other thing she had taken was the money she had stashed away. It was her father's money, and she wanted absolutely nothing to do with him anymore, but they would need it to get back. The car was also a necessity, but everything else was left in _Der Turm Weiße_, in that cold bastion of emptiness and endings.

It had an air of finality to it. It was that that feeling you got when you left a place and knew, deep down inside, that you would never return.

But it only made Ruby glad: the certainty of leaving. She didn't regret their departure in the slightest. The only thing she wanted now was to be home, back in their room at Beacon with Yang and Blake and all her friends, with Weiss and the knowledge that she had the heiress forever now.

Half a year's worth of anxiety was fleeing her bones as they drove, each mile farther away leaving her more relieved and satisfied than the rest.

Because Weiss was finally, truly hers. The last barrier between them had been smashed down; the last layer of ice had been cracked. Nothing could stand between them now.

They weren't speaking. They didn't need to. They drove on in silence, comforting eachother with their auras where words could only complicate and confuse things. Weiss' icy aura flowed into and around hers, calming and reassuring her far more than spoken language ever could.

And she could tell by the glimmer in the heiress' eyes and the smile on her face that hers was doing the same.

* * *

They were on an airship back to Vale, gliding across the ocean when they finally spoke.

It was empty except for them; nobody took a midnight flight from Atlas to Vale in the dead of summer, when all people wanted to do was enjoy their vacations and ignore the real world.

But instead of talking about what had just happened, or the consequences and all the potential things her father might do, they talked of simpler things instead.

"You sure showed him," Weiss said.

"Uh, who?" Ruby asked. "Your father?"

"No, that heir. When you grabbed him and threw him up against the wall. For lack of a better word, it was _awesome_."

Ruby giggled. "Geez, you're sounding more like me already."

"It's a one-time thing Ruby, don't get used to it."

The heiress stood up, moved to her right, and then sat right back down, having apparently decided that Ruby's lap was a far more comfortable seat than the suede seats of the airship.

She hummed and wrapped her arms around the heiress' midsection, smiling as the older girl planted a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for being there with me, you dolt. I don't know if I could have done that otherwise."

"Oh, I'm sure you could have."

Weiss gazed into her eyes. "No, I'm serious. Nothing I've done these past few months, these past few years, would have been possible without you. You've changed me Ruby, in the best possible way. And nowhere was it more evident than in that room. You gave me the strength I needed to free myself."

"I guess," Ruby muttered. "I think you already had that strength, you just needed someone to give you a reason to use it."

"Maybe. I feel almost like a bird right now, one that's had its wings clipped and then somehow healed, and is just now learning to fly. I feel _free_."

"Well don't go flying off on me," Ruby laughed. "I want you here now silly. That's the whole reason we did this, remember?"

"I know. I'll never leave you Ruby, not after this." The heiress drew back slightly and stared into Ruby's eyes. They were filled with a gentle warmth, the affectionate care that only a lover can gaze at you with.

"Thank you, Ruby Rose, for everything." She cupped Ruby's face with her hands and leaned forward slowly. Ruby met her halfway.

They kissed then, softly, powerfully, passionately.

She breathed in sharply through her nose, grasping the back of Weiss' head with her hand and clutching her soft, feather-like hair.

The kisses continued for a few minutes, until Weiss trailed off, leaned back, and smiled at her.

A warm smile; a true smile. It made her look beautiful, more so than she normally was. Her eyes twinkled in the dim glow given off by the airship's interior lighting, and they were the brightest things in the room to Ruby.

The heiress had lost almost everything. She had no money, no clothes, no inheritance to fall back on, and no blood family anymore.

And she looked happier than Ruby had seen her in years.

"Ruby, I love you," she whispered.

The brunette couldn't hold back a happy laugh, as all the tension and pressure she had felt in Atlas bled off and evaporated into the air.

"Why are you laughing?" Weiss questioned.

But Ruby didn't stop laughing. At first the heiress frowned, but then she let out a cute giggle, and before she long she was laughing too.

They held eachother, rocking back and forth in the seat as they struggled to breathe through the laughter. They were nearly in tears when they finished, and Weiss let out a long, satisfied sigh as she rested her head on Ruby's shoulder.

She let out a sigh of her own, and the last iota of tension left with it. "I love you too Weiss."

* * *

_**Song lyrics at the beginning are from "Promises Kept" by After the Burial. Really good melodic death, check it out.  
**_

_**I don't really have anything to say; I think this chapter speaks for itself.**_

_**Leave a review if you feel so inclined. I love reading them.**_


	15. Chapter 13 - Me Too

_**I'll be kind, if you'll be faithful**_  
_** You be sweet and I'll be grateful**_  
_** Cover me with kisses dear**_  
_** Lighten up the atmosphere**_  
_** Keep me warm inside our bed**_  
_** I got dreams of you all through my head**_

_**Come to me my sweetest friend**_  
_** Can you feel my heart again**_  
_** I'll take you back where you belong**_  
_** And this will be our favorite song**_  
_** Come to me with secrets bare**_  
_** I'll love you more so don't be scared**_

_**I caught you burning photographs**_  
_** Like that could save you from your past**_  
_** History is like gravity**_  
_** It holds you down away from me**_  
_** You and me, we've both got sins**_  
_** I don't care about where you've been**_  
_** Don't be sad and don't explain**_  
_** This is where we start again**_  
_** Start again**_

_**Come to me my sweetest friend**_  
_** Can you feel my heart again**_

* * *

"It would never really work out that way either. She's way too boorish and hard-headed."

"Oh come on, Yang's not that bad. She's just a little.. stubborn. She'd never do that to Blake."

Weiss sighed and leaned back into Ruby's embrace. It was warm and enveloping, and the perfect contrast to the cool night air against her skin. They were sitting in their favorite spot: the bench under the old oak tree on the hill. The city of Vale stretched out below them, along with the ocean that the port city depended on. The sky was clear and full, and the stars twinkled overhead like thousands of sparkling diamonds laid out against the black velvet backdrop of space.

"Don't kid yourself Ruby. If it was a choice between cutting her hair or giving up Blake, she'd dump her girlfriend in a heartbeat."

"Yeesh Weiss, that's cold. I don't think you're giving her enough credit. She loves Blake a lot more than she shows it. She's always been that way too. She acts all flirty and fake and stuff, but deep down she actually means it. I think Blake knows that too."

"If you say so," the former heiress huffed.

"What about you? If it was your hair or me, which one would you choose?"

Ruby sounded honest enough, so Weiss answered honestly in turn. "I'd have to choose you. But I would _not_ be happy about it. I probably wouldn't speak to you for a week."

"Sheesh, who says I have anything to do with it? What if some crazy villain makes you choose between me and the hair?"

"I'd still be mad at you."

"What! Why?"

"Because you were obviously the one who was foolish enough to go and get captured in the first place, you big dunce."

She felt Ruby's lips ghost against the back of her neck, and she had to suppress a shudder. "That's totally unfair. What if like, the only reason that he captured me is because they had you held hostage?"

"So... they capture me," she replied. "To capture you. And then I somehow escape, and you get captured, and they make me cut off my hair to free you and then just let you go?"

"Uh. Yeah."

She twisted around so that she could flick Ruby's forehead, but immediately followed it with a soft kiss. "You're the biggest dolt I've ever met. I love you."

Ruby frowned in mock hurt, but couldn't stop a cute giggle from escaping her lips. "I love you too Weiss."

The smaller girl hummed in contentment and snuggled up against her girlfriend, and as the minutes passed away and floated of into the comfortable silence of the night, she felt her consciousness drifting off with them.

In the past, she would have laughed at the notion of falling asleep in someone else's arms. But here, in Ruby's, she found a warmth and a satisfaction that she knew she would never find anywhere else.

The night was just about to claim her, when a light giggle from the brunette broke through the foggy haze of her impending sleep.

"What are you laughing about?" she mumbled.

"Oh, nothing really," Ruby said. "I just did it, that's all."

The former heiress looked up at her, and saw Ruby staring out at the horizon with a warm smile on her face. "You did what?"

"I did it. I got the prettiest girl in school. And the most beautiful woman in the entire world."

Weiss felt her cheeks heat up, and pressed her face into Ruby's shoulder in embarrassment. "You're absolutely impossible," she mumbled. "What am I supposed to do with someone as nice as you?"

"Oh, I don't know," Ruby replied. "You could start with a kiss."

* * *

Ruby grunted in pain as she was lifted up into the air, and then promptly slammed back down onto the ground. Or more specifically, onto the mat that covered the ground.

She lay there for a second, breathless, then grasped Yang's outstretched hand and let her sister haul her to her feet.

They were in one of Beacon's sparring rooms, a simple space with a padded white floor and walls. With Yang. The one person at Beacon you **didn't** want to be in a sparring room with.

"C'mon Ruby, you gotta be faster than that."

"Yang, I've always been faster than you! What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, but you're not fast where it counts. You're fast, but you don't have the technique or the power to back it up. Sparring and grappling is all about technique lil' sis. You can be the fastest girl in the world, but the moment someone who knows what they're doing gets their hands on you, you're done."

Ruby sighed in exasperation, moving to the center of the room and dropping into a fighting stance, feet spread apart and planted firmly on the ground.

"Nuh uh uh," Yang said. "You've been going for a while now. It's Weiss' turn."

Ruby saw the former heiress raise her eyebrow, as she pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning against.

"Yeah, don't think I'd forgotten about you," Yang said. "You need to be tough to protect my baby sister, and with the way you went down to that White Fang douche in the theater, you're gonna need more work than she does."

"I assure you that my skills-"

"Yeah blah blah blah, you're great with a sword, whatever. But when you lose the sword, all you have is your fists and your feet. Everyone loses their weapon sooner or later Princess. And when it happens, you need to be ready, or you're gonna fuckin' die. And you are _not_ going to die on Ruby."

Ruby leaned back against one of the padded walls and watched Weiss frown. But despite her apparent misgivings, the shorter girl dropped into a fighting stance nonetheless.

Yang eyed her critically, then stepped forward and adjusted her stance, shifting her shoulders and kicking her feet wider apart.

"Here, look. You want your shoulders squared up, like this, so you're ready to use your lead and your rear hand. Move your legs further apart. The wider your stance is and the lower your center of gravity is, the harder it's gonna be for someone to get you off balance and get you on the ground. And sorry Princess, but with your tiny-ass frame, if someone gets you on the ground, you're dead."

Weiss huffed and blew a strand of her snow-white hair out of her face; the rest of it was tied back in a tight ponytail.

Yang stepped back, and after giving Weiss another once-over, dropped into her own modified combat stance.

"Let's do this then," the blonde yelled.

Weiss kept her feet apart, her shoulders squared, and did her very best to take on her girlfriend's older sister.

And needless to say, she ended up on the ground.

* * *

But nearly an hour later, after the session was over and they were all three drenched in sweat, Yang surprised Weiss by giving her a heavy pat on the back.

"You did good Princess. Not great, but good. And you're only getting better. You too Ruby."

The brunette grinned as they strode out of the room together, grabbing towels off of the nearby rack and using them to wipe off their drenched foreheads.

"Because trust me," Yang said, as she leaned up against the wall. "you're gonna need this training. Someday, you're gonna be glad you let old Yang beat the shit out of you once a day."

Ruby felt her chest tighten in fear. "Wait, what?! Once a day!?"

Yang only grinned in reply, before slinging the towel over her back and striding out the gym's front door.

Ruby groaned and let herself fall against her girlfriend. "Weiss, hold me."

"Ew, no you dolt! You're covered in sweat!"

"Weiss, pl_eeeass_se..."

But as Weiss said, "Shut up, don't touch me," she felt the former heiress reach out and wrap her arms around her, even though the sweat made it hard for them to get a firm grip on eachother.

Ruby giggled into the embrace, and before long Weiss was laughing too.

* * *

Weiss looked at the scene before her, struggling to suppress a grin.

The scene, or more precisely Ruby and Yang struggling to play a deranged version of whack-a-mole, had her in comparatively good spirits. Such good spirits in fact, that when Yang grabbed Ruby and whisked her off to another part of Vale's most popular arcade, she didn't even mind. Much.

Bright lights of all shades and colors flashed and whirled around her, and she was struggling to hold back a headache that she could feel forming behind her temple. And if that happened, she knew whatever good spirits she had would die. Things had been much better since she had officially disowned her father roughly a week ago, but she knew it would take quite a bit of time for any long-term changes to her personality to take effect.

Although she sincerely doubted she would ever come to be comfortable in a building full of shrieking children, angry parents, and enough lights to blind anyone that stepped into said building. Why had she ever agreed to let anyone else besides her pick where they went for team night?

She turned, looked at the other remaining member of Team RWBY, and flashed her a smile. "So Blake, is there anything in particular you wanted to do downtown while those two buffoons play their children's games?"

The faunus chuckled and turned around, gazing out the doors of the arcade and into the street beyond.

"We could go get coffee. Coffee's always good."

"Sure," Weiss said with a grin. "Coffee sounds nice. Just make sure to tell one of those two dolts, or else they'll freak out when they can't find us."

Blake slipped her scroll back into her pocket. "Already done."

* * *

The smell of rich vanilla coffee and cream filled her nostrils with a tingling warmth, as the sounds of the bustling cafe did the same to her ears.

The coffee shop was comfortably full, not too many people to feel crowded, not too few to feel empty. The walls were green and the floor was brown, and the busy counter-top was made of a rich mahogany along with most of the tables and chairs. They had been fortunate enough to snag a table by the glass front of the store, so that they could look out at the street and all the people bustling by them on a lively Friday night.

"So Blake," Weiss started, "how've you been?"

The faunus smirked. "An odd opening question, considering I basically live with you."

"True, but we don't really talk as often as we should. Most of our time is taken up by our respective girlfriends."

Blake sipped her coffee and nodded. "True. Well to answer your question, I've been great. Yang quite honestly spoils me, and my time at Beacon is turning out so much better than I'd ever hoped. It feels strange huh? We only have a year left."

The former heiress sipped her coffee as well, turning her head to gaze out the window of the storefront. "That is rather... disconcerting. To be honest, I'm a little worried about the future."

Glancing back at Blake, she saw the girl in black raise an eyebrow.

"I mean... not necessarily worried. I'll be fine as long as I'm with Ruby but, well, after what happened with my family, a lot of things are up in the air lately."

"It must be hard, not being able to buy whatever you want suddenly." The unmistakable twinkle of humor in the faunus' eyes gave her away. "Must suck to be poor."

Weiss smirked in return. "It's not as bad as I used to think it would be. But it is strange, nonetheless, to have to actually lay out what money we have and budget it so we can afford something so simple as a night out in town. I don't have any more of my expensive clothes, no extravagant make-up, no limousine at my beck and call..."

"Sounds terrible."

"Oh it is, I assure you," Weiss finished with a chuckle. "What about you? What are your and Yang's plans after Beacon?"

The faunus looked down at her cup of coffee, her eyes seemingly lost in the gentle swirls of cream in the chocolate-colored liquid. "We honestly haven't given it too much thought. Just be Huntresses, I suppose. Take jobs, go on hunts, get a house, all that."

"So you are staying together after Beacon? That's not really in question?"

"It was never really in question," Blake said, and a gentle smile lit up her golden-amber eyes. "You and Ruby?"

Weiss returned to staring out the window. It was one of the most polite ways she could think of to avoid heavy eye contact with her faunus teammate. It wasn't as if she distrusted her or anything of the sort, but Ruby was the only person on the planet that she felt comfortable staring at.

"We were mostly planning on doing much the same. With my training and education I could honestly get a job anywhere, but if I did that, it would attract the attention of my parents. The way I see it, they can't keep tabs on me if I'm constantly moving around the world from job to job. If I were to get a long-term position at a company he'd surely find some way to sabotage it, but he can't do much to sabotage a hunt."

Blake raised a thick black eyebrow. "Well... you know that technically, there are _many_ ways he could sabotage one of your hunts. He could-"

Weiss held up her hand. "Thank you, I know what you mean, but I'm really not considering outright murder as a possibility right now. Maybe if some evidence prevents itself, but I'd like to think better of my blood family. I'm not saying I'd be _surprised_, but for now I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt."

"So no secret assassination attempts yet?"

"Nope."

"No attempts at blackmail? Bribery? Extortion?"

"None."

"Seriously?" Blake questioned. "It's been almost a full week since you returned from Atlas. Given from what I'd experienced of Schnee Dust while in the White Fang, I'd half-expected him to show up with an army to kidnap you by now."

The heiress frowned, then took another sip of her vanilla-flavored coffee. The frown remained. "Honestly... I think he's already forgotten me. Or, let go of me, or something similar. I don't think he really cares anymore. He's made no attempt to contact me or anything of the sort, and even more interestingly, some of my contacts in Schnee Dust have reported a shifting management structure and an overall re-organization. So either he's re-arranging the company around the unexpected hole my absence caused, or he's planning something big."

"Well, let's hope it's the former. I'd rather not go up against the biggest international corporate powerhouse in the world. In my experience, they have the money and the men to back up whatever it is they're pushing for."

The former heiress couldn't hold back a smirk. "Which in this case, would be my death."

"Hmm. Morbid," Blake replied with a grin. "I like it. That was pretty crazy though, what you did. Something I wouldn't have expected of anyone, let alone the uptight icy heiress who was logical to a fault."

"What, forsaking my birthright as one of the most powerful people in the world, defying _the _most powerful people in the world, and giving up basically my entire future for a klutzy girl I only met three years ago?"

"Yeah... that. It wasn't exactly, well, logical, or reasonable, or even sensical."

Weiss smirked. "Well, love isn't exactly sensical. Or logical or reasonable, or any of those things. It doesn't really make any sense at all, if you think about it."

"But that's why you did it then? For Ruby?"

The former heiress only nodded.

Blake leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. "Ugh, it's like one of my sappy romance novels. For what it's worth though Weiss, I think you did an incredible thing. It shows what a strong person you are, and it shows that people can really change. I'm glad to say that you're not the same snooty heiress I met three years ago."

"I suppose that's as close to a compliment as I'll get from you Blake."

The raven-haired faunus smiled. "I suppose so."

As the conversation relaxed into easy banter and lighter subjects, the former heiress found a slow smile creeping onto her face. Whatever the case, as she enjoyed her coffee and the company of her unlikely friend, she was glad that she _had_ friends. Because before coming to Beacon, she had never had people she could truly rely on. And now that she did, she couldn't imagine life without them.

* * *

"So you're serious about this whole Weiss thing then?"

Ruby sent a shocked glance to her right, where her blonde sister hadn't even looked away from the screen of the fighting game whose buttons she was currently mashing.

"Is that a serious question Yang?"

The blonde bit her lip in apparent concentration. "_Eee_yup."

Ruby frowned, and tried to ignore how badly her character was getting pummeled by Yang's. "I don't think you even really have to ask that question. Obviously we're serious about this, she gave up her entire freakin'... uh, inheritance or whatever for me. Basically like, her entire future. So she's pretty dang serious Yang."

"Yeah, but what about you."

"Yang, if you're seriously wondering if I'm serious about her, I might have to find a new big sis."

Yang only smirked and mashed the buttons even harder, and Ruby watched in horror as her character was picked up, thrown into the air, kicked repeatedly, then slammed back down into the ground.

"Alright that's it," she growled. "You're going down."

Ruby redoubled her efforts, and her character – a menacing looking warrior in gold armor with black trim and a strange catch phrase of 'Get over here! – grabbed Yang's character with a spiked harpoon, pulled him in, and drop-kicked him into the ground.

'Excellent!' the game's announcer crowed. 'Finish him!'

Yang growled and punched the side of the machine, and Ruby smirked as she executed a complex button combo. Her character punched right through Yang's character's chest, ripped his spine out, and thrust it into the air for all to see.

"Boom, get wrecked!" Ruby yelled.

Yang grabbed her and and pulled her into a head-lock, then started rubbing her head with her knuckles.

"Owowowow Yang stahp!"

"Only if you promise me that you'll be fine if Weiss ever dumps you!"

"Argh! OW- s-she's not gonna!"

"But if she do_eeesss_..." her older sister sing-songed.

"Ngh- No! She w-won't! Cut it out!"

"Not until you submit!"

Ruby clenched her teeth and planted her feet, curled her arm around Yang's waist, then flexed and pulled the older girl over her head and down onto the ground.

"Ow! What the crap! Ruby, you just hip-tossed me in the middle of the arcade!"

Ruby tried to ignore the stares of the other patrons as she lifted her big sister onto her feet. "Yeah, well next time don't try to pull that crap with me."

"Yeesh, fine," Yang relented. She stretched and flexed her considerable muscles, pulling her yellow tank-top taut and attracting even more stares. "Where did you even learn that move anyway?"

"Uh, you taught it to me like three days ago?"

"Oh... right. Crap. Remind me not to teach you moves like that."

Ruby laughed and slotted another coin into the machine, which lit up and signaled for them to select their characters.

"Moves that let me throw off my big sis when she's giving me a freakin' noogie?"

Yang laughed too. "Yeah, moves like that. Now prepare to get your ass beat."

"Oh we'll see about that. I'm going with a different character this time. You know how to dodge Scorpio, Scorpi, whatever his name is' javelin by now."

"Well this time I'm going with Katara."

"You mean Kitoro?"

"That's not right either. Screw it. You're going down."

"Fight!" the announcer yelled, and the two characters on screen immediately launched into a bloody duel to the death.

Halfway through the match, Yang spoke up again. "I'm serious about that. You being fine if Weiss ever dumps you."

"Whaddya mean? Why would she ever do that?"

"I'm not saying she will," Yang said. She focused her attention on Ruby, and it showed because her character stopped blocking completely. "But if she does, I just want you to promise me that you'll be fine. That you'll recover and won't go into some crazy depression or something."

"Holy crap Yang, stop being such a downer. She's not gonna break up with me, not after what she did with her parents. I'm kinda all she has left."

Yang pulled her hands away from the controls, and wrapped her in a tight hug. It wasn't strangling, it wasn't squeezing, but it was warm and it showed that she cared.

"Just promise me you'll be fine? I just don't want to see you get hurt."

Ruby dropped her voice to a whisper. "Yang, she's not gonna dump me."

"But if she does-"

"I don't know alright?" Ruby interrupted. "If she ever does do something like that... I don't know. I don't know if I can be fine after that." Her voice broke. "I love her so freaking much it hurts."

"I know you do," Yang said. The blonde sighed and rubbed slow circles into her back. "I know you do. So just... urgh, screw it. I'll just have to make sure she never dumps you then."

"Thanks Yang."

"No problem little sis. I love you."

She smiled and hugged her big sister tighter. "I love you too."

They stayed in the embrace for a few long seconds, until Yang spoke again: "You know in a way, she's as good for you as you are for her."

"Pfft, never thought I'd hear you say anything good about her. What do you mean?"

"Like, well do you remember how you were when we first got to Beacon?" Yang asked.

"You mean after you ran off on me with your friends?" she said. Yang chuckled and released her, and they went back to virtually beating the crap out of eachother. "Uh, kinda," she continued. "You mean like when she yelled at me and stuff."

"Yeah," Yang replied. She grimaced as Ruby's character hit hers with a particularly vicious looking uppercut. "You were all nervous and socially awkward and klutzy and stuff. And you were really scared about being a leader too. You had motivation to be a huntress alright, but stepping up and leading a team of people all two years ahead of you was a bit out of your scope."

Ruby scoffed. "I like to think I did okay."

"Okay, one, you sound like Weiss when you scoff like that. Stop it. Two, I think it was honestly _because _of her that you did so well."

"Really?"

"Yeap. I've never seen anyone bring that much out of you in such a small period of time. No one's ever made you grow that fast. It's like, I guess it's like she made you want to work harder or something. Like you wanted to impress her. So you really buckled down and focused on your schoolwork and all that, and look at you now. Best huntress in the academy, and not even in your fourth year."

Ruby couldn't help but feel a surge of pride. "Okay, well I wouldn't say I'm the best..."

"Don't give me that shit," Yang replied. She reached over and tousled Ruby's hair, grinning as it distracted her sister long enough for her to land a brutal combo. "You're the best, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Just beat the snot out of 'em instead."

"Whatever you say big sis."

"It_ is_ whatever I say, because I _am_ your big sister, and that means I know things. And do stuff."

"Like get your butt whooped!" Ruby exclaimed, as she knocked Yang's character off of a narrow rock bridge. The blonde's character fell for a few hundred feet, but just when things looked dire, she managed to catch a wicked looking spike just before she hit the ground. The only problem was that she caught it with her chest.

"Ouch, that looked painful," Ruby laughed.

"Yeah yeah," Yang muttered. She rested her elbow on the edge of the machine and looked sidelong at her younger sister. "So you guys fucked yet?"

"WHAT? YANG!"

* * *

The clouds overhead were grey, overcast, and heavy with the promise of rain.

But it didn't. For some reason, it simply didn't rain.

It could've rained, it _should've_ rained, for the memorial for the victims of the White Fang attack on the theater, the heavens should've opened up and poured down their tears for weeks on end.

But it didn't rain.

And somehow that seemed worse to Weiss than everything else. Almost everything about this situation weighed heavy on her mind: the guilt, the sorrow, the shame. She was the cause of their deaths. If she hadn't attended that night, no one would have died.

But she had attended. And the White Fang had attacked.

And now one hundred and forty-seven people were dead.

And it still wouldn't rain.

They approached the crowd of mourners, and several of them turned to stare at her. Maybe they knew who she was, maybe they didn't. But their faces were still too much for her right now.

She stopped walking, struggled to pull herself together. The guilt was nearly overwhelming: a crushing sensation that filled her with bile and regret. It had been a whim, a last minute decision to attend the theatre that night.

A simple whim. A whim that had killed one hundred and forty-seven people. Because of her.

Because of _her_. It was_ her _fault, the faces of the people staring at her seemed to say. Their faces were masks of sorrow and veiled accusation, but she could hear them screaming at her in her head.

A woman with cold eyes. _"Murderer! My daughter is dead because of you!" _

A young man with tears on his cheeks and anger on his face. _"My whole family was killed because of your 'whim'! What can you ever do to ease my pain!?"_

A husband with a detached look, an empty expression. _"You should be dead, not my wife! You should be dead!"_

"Hey," Ruby whispered into her ear, "it'll be fine. I'm right here."

Weiss squeezed the brunette's hand in silent thanks and wiped the beginnings of tears from her eyes. She had to be strong. She was a different woman now, and she let her emotions fade to the background, and rational thought took over again.

The woman. _"Your daughter is dead because of the White Fang. If you blame anyone, blame yourself for not being able to protect her, or blame them."  
_

The young man. _"Your whole family would not want you to live like this, in anger and depression. Nothing I can do can ever ease your pain, but you can carry on their memory and grow stronger, and live again."_

The husband. _"Maybe I should be dead. Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe your wife was meant to die. Maybe she wasn't. But she's dead, and nothing you can do can bring her back. But you can let her go or you can pass on with her. It's your choice."  
_

One by one, she vanquished her mental demons. The guilt lessened, as did the horrible feelings that came with it. She reconciled her choices with herself, and grew stronger in doing so. As a Huntress, she had to realize that there were many things in life that she couldn't control. Unlike the way her parents lived, much of her life would be subjected to the whims and decisions of others. She wouldn't control the hunts she went on, she wouldn't control the Grimm, and she wouldn't necessarily control who lived or died. She could only live with the decisions that _she_ made.

She had to. She could do this now. Ruby's hand in hers told her as much.

She opened her eyes, and lifted her head.

An open field that overlooked Vale City's open bay stretched out before them, as did a sizable crowd of people, maybe two to three hundred. They were all gathered around a large granite statue that stood on the edge of the field, facing the ocean. This field was all that remained of the theatre; the space had been cleared of the rubble and foundations, and then simple grass had been planted.

As far as she could tell, the statue was supposed to represent an actor. It could have been any of them, or maybe it was supposed to represent all of them, or simply the art of acting as a whole. It was ambiguous, simply a man in a suit and a bi-corned hat with a mask over his face and a book in his hand. He appeared to be reading aloud, and his other hand was outstretched towards the ocean.

The four of them, Team RWBY, were fittingly dressed in black. The only spot of color in the whole ensemble were the red bead earrings that Ruby had decided to wear. She had said she couldn't stand to look so dull, and needed something to brighten up their outfits at least a tiny bit. And Weiss, in her already distraught state, couldn't bring herself to shoot Ruby down over something so trivial.

And as she glanced at the brunette, she decided that they actually looked nice. It was nice to see Ruby wear jewelry for once, although it was saddening that she needed circumstances like these to provoke her to step beyond the bounds of what she'd normally wear.

They reached the edge of the crowd, and found a comfortable spot near the back. Near everyone else was dressed in black as well. Some people were weeping, some looked reflective, some looked simply empty. Some were trying to force a smile, some were gazing up at the sky, and some were looking out at the horizon.

But all were respectful, and all were silent.

Only one person was set to speak today, and that was the owner of the theatre. He was the one who had organized this memorial, had paid for the statue and even the funerals of the dead. It was rare to find someone like that in these times, and Weiss was grateful that they still existed. Even with Ruby around her constantly, it was still a breath of fresh air when she saw someone who wasn't just looking out for themselves. Someone who cared about more than just money, or what people thought of them. She would know. She used to be one of them.

After a few moments of further silence, the crowd parted for a lone man. He was short, looked to be in his mid-fifties, and was dressed in black like everyone else. The top of his head was bald and his hairline was receding, and he wore small spectacle glasses that would have made him look comical anywhere else. Normally, Weiss would have thought him diminutive and unnoticeable.

But as he stepped onto a small podium and took the microphone, even with his nasally voice, he was anything but.

"Ladies and Gentlemen... thank you all for coming. You've had enough of people saying I'm sorry. So I won't. In the end, this was my fault. Security wasn't tight enough, door checks weren't thorough enough, and I didn't spend as much as I should have on a proper fire suppression system. I could make excuses and say no one expects terrorists to chuck Molotovs into their theater, but I won't."

He hung his head for a few moments, then straightened his bow-tie and perked back up. "I lost everything. My theatre, all the time I've put into it, and most of my considerable savings. But that's _nothing_ compared to what you all have lost. Lives can never be replaced. One day, I could build a new theatre. I won't, but that's besides the point. Buildings can be rebuilt. You can make more money. But once you lose someone... well, you can't ever get them back."

"But as much as that hurts, you have to... you have to..." He blanched, then attempted to reach into his back pocket for what was presumably the notes of his speech. When he came up empty-handed, he simply bowed his head and spoke.

"I'm sorry. I told you I wouldn't say that, but I am. I'm so, so sorry, and there's nothing I can ever do to bring these people back, and it kills me every day. I had something to say, some message I was going to tell you all to try and help you through these times but, but I've forgotten it. Quite frankly I can't remember it. All I can remember is these people..." His voice broke. "All I can remember is their faces and their..."

He whipped around and strode off the stage, but the microphone caught his parting words. "Fuck, I can't do this."

Everyone watched as he strode over to a taller woman in black, whose arms he immediately collapsed into as he started sobbing.

The crowd seemed shocked. No one spoke. A few people cried, but no one spoke.

And then there was the sound of someone clearing their throat over the microphone, and all heads turned as one towards the podium. On it was a woman dressed in black, with white hair that fell to her knees, and piercing red eyes.

The sadness Weiss felt for the poor man on the podium disappeared, and it was replaced with an ice-cold shock.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ruby turn to stare at her with a confused expression, but all she could do was stare at the woman on the podium.

Her clear, stately voice broke the silence like the crack of an iceberg.

"Good afternoon, people of Vale City. I am Viktoria Schnee."

She could feel Yang and Blake staring at her now too, but she didn't turn to answer them. She couldn't."

"As you all know, this attack was perpetrated by members of the White Fang. They were there for one thing. My daughter. Weiss Schnee. They were there to kill her."

Viktoria looked right at her as she spoke, and Weiss felt a chill run down her spine. Ruby wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, and it reminded her that she had her team beside her. It helped, served to keep her grounded and steady. Because honestly, she was scared. Had her mother come to berate her? Or worse, had her father come too? To take her back to Atlas?

"So in a way," Viktoria continued, "this was Schnee Dust's fault. I know nothing I can say will ease the pain in your hearts, but I hope it helps to at least know who committed this terrible crime, and why. Schnee Dust will personally pay any reparations that you deem necessary, as long as they are reasonable and just. It is the very least we can do. Thank you for your time."

With that, she bowed her head and stepped off of the podium. Weiss tried to watch her, but when she lifted a black shroud and placed it over her head, she disappeared into the crowd like a crow into the night.

Yang spoke first. "Weiss? What the fuck was that?"

"That was... my mother."

"Well durr. What the fuck was she doing here?"

"Watch your language," Blake muttered, smacking Yang on the arm. The blonde didn't even seem to notice.

"I thought she was supposed to be up in Atlas with your dad and everything. Is he here too? Is this something we should be worried about?"

"I don't... I don't honestly know Yang. I don't know if she's here by herself, or even why she came in the first place."

Ruby wrapped her in a warm embrace from behind. "It's fine Yang, just back off Weiss for a sec," the brunette said. "Let her think."

The blonde crossed her arms and frowned, but said nothing further. Blake stood up on her toes and looked around, her amber eyes flicking back and forth as she scanned the crowd.

Weiss rested her hands on the arms Ruby had wrapped around her waist, and stared at the ground so she could ignore the crowd and try to think.

_"Mother never does any public speaking or events. Father's the one that always takes care of those, in fact he demands that he be the one to take care of them. So if she was up there representing Schnee Dust, and he didn't have anything to say... then he's not here?"_

A second possibility occurred to her at the same time. _"Or it's a trap, and he's simply doing this to throw me off my guard and lure me into a false sense of security. I certainly wouldn't put it past him. Whatever the case, I need to find out my mother's intentions."_

"Yang, Blake?" she asked. "Would you try to find my mother before she leaves? I don't want to reveal myself directly, but I need to know what she came here for. Would you do that for me?"

"No need," an achingly clear voice said from behind her. "I found you first."

She whipped around, nearly throwing Ruby off of her. "Mother!"

Viktoria was standing only a few feet from them. Tall and regal even in her mourning attire, she somehow commanded the attention of everyone around her like only a Schnee could. "Hello Weiss. And I remember you, Ruby. I assume this is the rest of your team?"

"What are you doing?" Weiss growled. "Is Father here?"

"No, Weiss please listen," the older woman said. She held her hands out to her side in a show of surrender. "Your father isn't here. I came by myself."

"Why."

Viktoria stared her dead in the eye. "To talk to you. But I'd rather not do it here, in this crowd. Do you have anywhere nearby we can have privacy?"

The heiress considered her request carefully, then looked at her teammates to see what they thought. Blake looked indifferent, Yang was glaring at her mother, but Ruby gave her a slow nod. And these days, Ruby's opinion was worth so much more than anyone else's.

Yang spoke up. "I know a place."

Weiss wasn't quite sure she liked the grin the blonde was wearing. "None of your tricks this time Mother. I'm afraid I'm not up to dealing with them anymore."

Viktoria nodded, with a strange glint in her deep crimson eyes. Her face was open and honest when she said: "They were never my tricks. They were always his."

* * *

Viktoria looked incredulous. "A bar? The place you selected that we can speak in private is a _bar_?" Viktoria _sounded_ incredulous.

"Oh come on, the _Rising Sun_ is a class establishment," Yang replied. "Coldest beer on tap in the entire city."

Weiss grimaced as Yang immediately made her way to the bar. Blake followed her.

Sour memories of the last time she was here filled her mind, but they were lessened by the fact that this time was different. The last time she had come here, she and Ruby had barely been able to speak to eachother. But now Ruby's hand was in hers, out in the open, for anyone to see. And she wouldn't have it any other way.

Gesturing for her mother to follow, she made her way to the back of the room, where several brown leather couches sat in front of an empty fireplace. The bartender smiled at her and Ruby as she passed, and she nodded her head in thanks to him. It was the same man, the one who had helped her all those months ago. But there were more important things she needed to take care of, things with red eyes, white hair, and questionable intentions.

They sat down on the couches, Ruby next to her and her mother across from her.

There was a few moments of silence as she simply stared at Viktoria Schnee, while the older woman glanced around at the bar with veiled distaste. It wouldn't be noticeable to many, but Weiss was used to the slight downward curve of her mother's lip and the barely-there furrow of her brow.

"So Mother, what, exactly, are you doing here?"

"I came to... apologize."

Weiss quirked her eyebrow. "Apologize? You'll have to be more specific than that."

"Simply put, I'm sorry. For everything we've done to you, your father and I."

Skepticism and disbelief would be an understatement of how she felt right now. "Is he sorry, or just you?"

"Well. Just me. I came here of my own accord. After what you did in our home, what you said to him..." The older woman shrugged. "Let's just say he hasn't been himself lately. He's been detached, more so than normal. I don't think he ever believed that you'd do something quite so bold."

Weiss wanted to say she'd never believed she'd do something like that either, but she wasn't going to say that to the woman who was half the cause of those same problems. So she silently bade her mother continue.

"It's given me a fresh perspective, to be honest. What you did was incredible, quite frankly. I didn't think anyone could ever break free of him. I certainly never tried, and I've been married to him for nearly two decades now. Do you know why he married me?"

"Enlighten me."

"It was for my genes. It was what set me apart from all the other suitable daughters of rich families. My red eyes and white hair are recessive, and he figured that by choosing me, that any children of his would get his qualities and not mine. That didn't entirely work out, obviously. You received his eyes, but you somehow still got my hair color. And good thing you didn't get _my_ eyes. He probably would've had you dumped off at an orphanage."

"Knowing him, I'm not surprised," Weiss replied. "But say you're really here to apologize. What for? Couldn't you have just called me? Why are you really here?"

"Closure, perhaps. I simply want to tell you, my daughter, that deep down I still love you. And I think that somewhere in his bleak heart, he still does too."

"I find that preposterous and insulting."

Yang and Blake returned at that exact moment, the former plopping down on a third couch with a beer in her hand and the latter sitting carefully beside her. The faunus was expressionless, and Yang simply raised an eyebrow as she lifted the bottle to her lips and drank.

Viktoria sighed. "I knew you would find it hard to believe. You don't have even _have_ to believe me. I simply want you to know that I'm proud of what you've done, and," she gestured at Ruby, "I'm glad you're finally happy."

Ruby responded by wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Her voice was cold when she spoke. "She is. And so am I. And I'd do anything to keep us that way. That includes _killing_ whoever you send at us."

"Oh, he won't have anyone sent after you."

Ruby sounded skeptical. "How can you say that, after everything he's done?"

"Because I'm his wife, and I know him better than any of you. Despite what he's done, he doesn't have the heart to kill his own daughter, not after he's put so much time and money into raising her. Like I told you Weiss, in his own twisted way, he loves you. It's why he agreed to let you attend Beacon. Do you really think he'd have let you become a Huntress if he simply viewed you as an asset to be married off?"

"I... never really thought of it that way," Weiss replied. "I suppose so. But you'll forgive me if I'm too bitter over the whole thing to forgive him right now, or see him as anything less than a heartless narcissist."

"Narcissist? The guy's a fucked up asshole," Yang muttered. Viktoria glared at her, but said nothing.

She turned back to Weiss. "I didn't expect you to. But know that I love you Weiss, and I'm glad that you found a way to create your own life, and find your own happiness. Something I've been sorely lacking. But if my daughter can do it, then maybe I can convince him to change. I used to love him you know. Maybe I can again."

"I wish you the best of luck with that Mother. You'll need it."

"Luck has nothing to do with it Weiss. If you ever need anything, I'll do my best to provide you with it. It's the least I can do after the past twenty-one years."

"Thank you, but I'd prefer to do things for myself now. I have Ruby, and something tells me we'll be fine on our own."

"Be that as it may, feel free to contact me if you need anything. You burned a lot of bridges Weiss. But I would like ours to remain standing, if you'll have it."

Weiss frowned and shifted on the couch, leaning into Ruby's strong, warm frame. "I'll... I'll consider it Mother. Thank you for coming here though. It shows that you at least care."

"I do. You may not love me Weiss, you may never have. But you are my daughter, and I can't help but love you as only a mother can, as only a mother is forced to in some strange way. So just know that I love you, whatever that means anymore."

Viktoria Schnee stood, bowed, and strode out of the bar.

Yang smirked. "Well that was a thing."

"Yeah it was," Ruby mumbled.

The former heiress didn't speak, but simply gazed at the empty fireplace. She had a lot to think about. A lot to reconsider. But Ruby's body pressed up against hers reminded her that she didn't have to do it alone anymore, and that meant more than anything.

"Should we head back to Beacon now?" Blake said. She was glaring at Yang, who had been halfway towards getting up and adding another beer to her tab.

"Yes," Weiss replied. "Let's head back. That sounds nice."

Ruby whispered in her ear. "Popcorn, movies and a blanket?"

"Now _that_ sounds fantastic," she whispered back.

* * *

"Hold on, there's something I need to do real quick," Ruby said, struggling to be heard over the noise of passing cars.

Yang looked back from where she walking down the street, arm-in-arm with Blake. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." She turned to Weiss, who stared at her with a quirked eyebrow. "Weiss, kiss me."

"What?"

"Kiss me. Out here in the middle of the street. In front of everyone."

"You dolt, why?"

"Because we've never really kissed out in the open before! And now we can because you're not really a Schnee anymore, I mean you are but you straight up disowned them and now you can do whatever you want and-"

Weiss had been staring at the ground while Ruby rambled on, but she suddenly looked up, grabbed Ruby by the collar of her jacket, and pressed their lips together.

Ruby was caught by surprise. But she shut her eyes and shut everyone and everything else out: the cars passing by, the people walking past them, Blake, Yang, everyone but Weiss and her soft lips that tasted like cherry lip balm.

It lasted for several long seconds, and then the former heiress pulled back and grimaced at her. "There, happy you dunce?"

She smiled back, and she struggled for the right words to use to describe how she felt. But she couldn't find them, so she simply squeaked happily.

"I'll take that as a yes. Now let's find a cab."

Yang was grinning at her like a jester, and even Blake was smiling. "Yeesh, get a room or something," the blonde said.

"Shut up you oaf," Weiss replied, "and find us a taxi."

* * *

Ruby decided that Weiss' hair had to be the smoothest thing she'd ever felt.

The sun was setting and the curtains were closed, and they were laying on the former heiress' bed watching a movie on her scroll, which was propped up on a pillow. Weiss was snuggled back into the natural curve of Ruby's body, and the brunette was simply relaxing and enjoying the peaceful calm of the moment.

Weiss had let her hair down, and Ruby, who had wrapped her arms around the older girl's waist, had been slowly stroking it since the movie had started.

It was some stuffy old movie that Weiss had picked out. The actors spoke like they were trapped fifty years in the past, and all of the reactions seemed forced and exaggerated. The former heiress seemed to be enjoying it though, judging by the way her lips curved upwards into a small smirk. So Ruby was content to lay there and hold her girlfriend. And play with her hair, of course. Weiss didn't seem to mind.

A bowl of empty popcorn lay on the floor. Ruby had accidentally it nudged off of the bed with her foot. Weiss had scolded her, but on the bright side they had already finished all of the popcorn, so there was no mess for Weiss to force her to clean up.

"I need to charge my scroll after this movie," the shorter girl murmured. "Otherwise I'll run out of battery during the next one."

"I get to pick, right?"

"Mmhmm, it's your turn. Nothing too doltish though, okay?"

"Doltish? That's not even a word."

Weiss craned her neck around and planted a warm kiss on her lips. "It is when you're involved. Dolt."

Ruby giggled and kissed the back of Weiss' neck, which made the smaller girl close her eyes and shudder.

"Ooh, you liked that huh?"

"Shut up idiot," Weiss growled. "It's the final scene of the movie."

"Yeah, you liked it."

"Sssh!"

The last scene played out before Ruby's eyes, wherein the main character finally confessed his love to the female lead and kissed her in the pouring rain. The camera zoomed out and tilted up to show the rain coming down, and then the credits rolled in.

"Man I can't believe you like those stuffy old romances," she said. "They're so b_oooo_ring."

"Do you want one flick on the nose, or two on the forehead?"

"W-What? No flicks, no flicks!"

"Too late," Weiss said, "that's _three_ on the forehead then!"

The smaller girl twisted around and pounced on her. She held Ruby's struggling arms with one hand, and with other formed a few quick symbols with her fingers. Whirling glyphs of white magic trapped Ruby's wrists together while she squealed and laughed, and Weiss held them above the trapped girl's head while she gave her forehead three quick flicks.

"Ahahah! Stahp! Weiss stop!"

Weiss propped herself up on her elbows, looking down at her writhing form. She felt exposed for some reason, wearing nothing but her tank top – which was a little tight since she'd been wearing it since their first year – and her pajama pants, with her wrists trapped above her head and Weiss basically straddling her waist.

The older girl's voice sounded shallow and breathless. "You know there's... something else I could do to you while you're like this."

Ruby bit her bottom lip. "Like what?"

Something flickered across Weiss' face, and she snapped her fingers and dispelled the glyphs. "N-Nothing. Next movie. Your turn to pick."

"Okay, okay," Ruby laughed. She rolled over onto her front and grabbed Weiss' scroll. "Oh, your scroll just died. You have your charger?"

Weiss pointed towards the small nightstand by her bed. "In the drawer."

And then the lights shut off.

It took a second for Ruby to figure out what it meant, but when she did she couldn't help but laugh.

"Are you serious?" Weiss huffed. "Now? A power outage now? Of all the times for Beacon to screw up, it has to be when I need to charge my scroll." She sighed. "Very well, we'll just have to use your scroll Ruby."

"Uh... about that."

Weiss was slow to respond. "Choose your next words carefully. Your life could depend on them."

"It's uh, dead?"

Weiss closed her eyes, and let out a long sigh. "You're lucky I love you."

"Heh heh, I know."

She rolled onto her back and pulled Weiss onto her chest, which the older girl endured with a grimace that was visible even in the fading light of the setting sun.

"So you okay with your mom and everything?"

Weiss scoffed. "Well that was sudden."

"I figured it would be good for you to talk about it."

"Fine. I am, in a strange way. I don't know if I'll ever forgive her but..." she trailed off.

"But what?"

"I think I see her in a different light now," Weiss replied. "It's an improvement for sure, but she can't expect me to forgive her so suddenly."

"Yeah, she said that too. It's still pretty nice of her. Maybe she's not as bad as I thought."

"Maybe not."

They were quiet for a bit, where the only sound was their soft breathing and the gentle rustle of her fingers trailing through Weiss' feather-soft hair.

"So whaddya wanna do now?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm not really tired."

"Me neither."

Ruby had a idea, an idea she'd like very much to try, but one she wasn't sure if Weiss would be so open to. "Well..."

"Hmm?"

"We could make out."

"...Okay."

"Seriously? You're cool with that? Just making out? Normally I have to convince you or something."

"Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind."

She grinned and kissed Weiss, hesitantly at first, but growing quicker and more passionate as the former heiress breathed in through her nose and cradled the back of her head.

"Use your tongue more," Ruby whispered.

"Shut up," Weiss growled. But she complied anyway.

They stayed that way for several minutes, lost in the breathless kisses and uncertain roaming of eachother's hands. At some point she ended up on top of the older girl. Ruby slipped her hands under Weiss' nightgown and ran her fingernails down the smaller girl's back. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, but if Weiss' moans were anything to go by, she was doing it right. Without thinking she lifted the nightgown up, but then her actions caught up to her and she froze.

She opened her eyes to find Weiss staring at her with a mix of apprehension and uncertainty. The former heiress' eyes nearly glowed in the dark, and she bit her bottom lip. They were so close; their foreheads were inches from touching. Weiss' hair hung down in white curtains, tickling her face.

"Do you wanna..." Ruby trailed off. Her breathing was heavy and labored.

After a few breathless moments, Weiss nodded slowly.

Ruby lifted the nightgown over the shorter girls' head, growing more nervous with each passing second. And then Weiss was topless, and all she could do was stare. The older girl blanched and covered herself, and Ruby was at a loss for words. This was the most naked she had ever seen Weiss, except for that time in the shower, but this time was different. This time they were both fully conscious of what they were doing, what they were about to do.

"Um, is this your first time?" Ruby whispered.

"You idiot!"

"Guh sorry, that was a dumb question. Of course it is. It's mine too..."

"I know!"

"Oh, crap right. Um, do you wanna take mine off? My shirt I mean. If you want to."

"You're making this all awkward," the heiress huffed, as she struggled to avoid her gaze.

It was the cutest thing Ruby had ever seen, and she was overcome with the urge to kiss Weiss, anywhere really. She just wanted to shower the other girl with affection, show her how she felt the way she couldn't with words. She bent down and started gently nibbling on the former heiress' neck, which shut the older girl up and replaced her protests with moans. Weiss grabbed the back of her neck and held on like it was her only lifeline in a storm, as Ruby continued kissing and licking her neck.

Ruby took the opportunity to look at her, to fully _look_ at her for the first time. Weiss was definitely flat-chested, that was for sure, but she still decided that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The gentle curve of her small breasts, the tiny pink nipples, the way the sweat on her flawless skin stood out in the dark. The older girl was in nothing but a pair of lacy white panties, and it made her heart feel like it was about to beat it's way out of her chest. She felt aroused, more so than ever, several magnitudes more than she ever had on her own.

"Can I..." Ruby whispered.

The heiress nodded again.

She moved her hands to Weiss' chest and started gently kneading her breasts, unsure of exactly what to do, but sure of the fact that she had wanted to do this for a _very_ long time. Daring to go further than ever before, she lowered her mouth to one of Weiss' nipples and placed her lips on it, eliciting a sharp gasp from the older girl.

"Ruby..." she moaned.

She took that as a signal to continue, brushed her lips across the other girl's nipple, and then gently flicked it with her tongue.

"Hnngh," Weiss moaned. "More..."

After a few seconds she moved to the other breast, gently massaging the previous one with her free hand. She was trying her best to make it look she knew what she was doing; she was desperately afraid of the former heiress being disappointed, unsatisfied, and then subsequently rejecting her. But Weiss dug her fingernails into her spine, and the pain felt strangely good. Almost like pleasure. So she figured that whatever she was doing, she was doing it right.

This was definitely the craziest thing she had ever done, she decided, but it also felt good. It felt amazing, it felt fantastic, it felt _right_. Weiss' breasts were the softest things she'd ever felt, and she couldn't get enough of the salty tang that was the former heiress' sweat on her skin.

She felt a growing heat in her abdomen, along with a wet sensation between her legs that she knew was no accident. Sure, she had masturbated before, mostly to thoughts of Weiss, but this was so much different, and so much better than she had ever imagined.

As she continued licking one breast and massaging the other, she moved her free hand lower, dragging it downward to Weiss' waist and resting it on the older girl's hip.

"Uh uh," the heiress breathed. "There's no way I'm going to let you down there when you still have your shirt on. That's not fair."

Ruby bit her lip and sat up, still straddling Weiss' waist. The former heiress grabbed the hem of her tank top and lifted it up, and Ruby moved to help her when it got stuck on her head. She struggled to contain giggles as they both tried to get it off, but as the material cleared her neck and Weiss tossed it to the floor, she fought the urge to cover herself like the other girl had.

She felt naked. She felt exposed. But as dangerous as it felt, it was also breathtaking. The way Weiss stared at her chest made her feel beautiful and wanted, and she felt her thighs growing slick and wet.

"W-What am I supposed to do when you just sit up there like that?" Weiss asked. "Get down here you dolt!"

Ruby hesitantly lowered herself back down, feeling almost like she was exposing herself to a predator because the way the older girl stared at her chest. Weiss hesitantly reached up and grabbed her breasts, and she had to bite her thumb to muffle a sharp gasp. It almost tickled, because Weiss' hands were somehow still cold. But her hands were also soft and delicate, and the way Weiss fondled her breasts and tweaked her nipples with the uncertainty of someone who had never done this before, but the passion of someone who had _wanted_ to do it for quite a while was new and blissful.

She rested her forehead on a pillow as Weiss moved her mouth to her right breast, and was unable to contain the moans that seemed to be forcing their way out of her throat as she felt the other girl's tongue on her erect nipple. Weiss' rough taste buds dragged across her sensitive nipple in a way that felt so good it was almost painful. She gripped the sheets and held on for dear life as Weiss massaged and licked her breasts, and she got lost in the sensation and sheer bliss of it all. They stayed that way for a few seconds longer, until the sheer want in her lower body took control of her mind, making her do things she would normally never.

The longing in between her thighs was getting almost unbearable. She grabbed Weiss' hand by the wrist, closed her eyes, and guided it down, giggling as the heiress gave a sharp gasp of surprise.

But Weiss' hand didn't move at all; it just stayed there, resting on her.

"C-Cmon Weiss, you have to do something..."

Ruby forced her eyes open, to see Weiss staring at her with an expression that seemed just short of sheer terror. "But what do I do?"

"What? I mean, haven't you like, ever touched yourself before?"

"Of course I've touched myself!"

"I mean your... you know, that thing."

The former heiress appeared to catch on, lowering her gaze to where her hand still rested on Ruby's crotch. "O-Oh. You mean like that."

"Well _duh_," Ruby giggled. "Like, haven't you ever m-masturbated before?"

Weiss' cheeks went a bright shade of red, and she immediately raised her gaze to the ceiling. "Oh my god Ruby never say that word again."

"Just shut up and start, I don't know, rubbing me or something!"

Weiss bit her lip and shut her eyes, but she started moving her hand in a hesitant, circular motion.

She could tell by the way that Weiss massaged her through her pajama pants that she still didn't know what she was doing, but it still felt insanely good all the same. Nearly orgasmic.

_"Crap not yet, I can't cum yet, we just started! She'll think I'm a loser!"_

"Um, uuh, yeah, like that... just keep doing that" she whispered.

"Shut up!" Weiss hissed. "I know what to do!"

"N-No you don't... you just said you didn't."

Weiss said something else, something undoubtedly snippy, but Ruby honestly didn't catch it. She was too busy getting lost in the amazing feeling in between her legs. But then Weiss said something she definitely heard.

"T-Take your, take your pants off you dunce," the heiress said, breathless and heady. But her tone was somehow forceful at the same time, almost dominant.

Ruby froze for a split-second, but then complied. She liked dominant Weiss; it turned her on. She nodded and rolled off to the side, lifting her legs and sliding the soft pajamas off of them. She momentarily froze as her mind caught up to how naked she was. She felt completely exposed like never before, vulnerable and on the verge of fear. She forced herself to remember that it was only Weiss she was with, and that she loved her. She forced the feeling of helplessness down, even as it aroused her even further. It helped that Weiss looked incredibly seductive, with her hair splayed out around her upper body, and the pair of lacy white panties she wore standing out in the dark of the room. The nervous look on her face helped too; it only made her look cuter and somehow more attractive.

Now that Ruby's pants were off, the older girl somehow looked even more tense than before. Weiss moved to grab Ruby's breasts again, but she grabbed one of Weiss' hands and moved it back down. "Nope, finish what you started," she breathed.

"W-What?" Weiss hissed. "Finish what?"

"Finish me you idiot!" Ruby said. She covered her mouth with her hand as she realized what she had said; she would never think of calling Weiss an idiot under normal circumstances.

"What did you just call me?" Weiss growled.

"Uh... nothing?" Ruby squeaked.

"No, I _distinctly_ heard you just call me an idiot."

"Sorry?"

Weiss stared at her for a few long seconds, and Ruby couldn't feel anything but terrified and exposed as Weiss' gaze roamed up and down her body.

"You have to let me touch your abs if you want me to... you know."

"W-What?"

The former heiress narrowed her eyes. "You heard me."

"Um, okay?"

Ruby hissed in surprise as Weiss' hands came up and started tracing out the contours of her stomach. The other girl certainly looked hesitant, but her hands were anything but. Her fingers dipped into the dimples and canyons created by her defined abs, as if she was trying to create a mental map of them.

The way Weiss stared at her chest was intense; and she felt like a rabbit caught in a trap, staring at the hunter who was to decide it's fate. And it also tickled. It tickled a lot.

"S-Stop Weiss, it tickles," Ruby laughed.

"Shut up and deal with it," the other girl whispered.

She couldn't take it anymore; she grabbed both of Weiss' searching hands and threw them off before collapsing onto the bed in muffled hysterics.

When she finally stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her eyes, she raised her head to find Weiss staring at her with a frown and a raised eyebrow.

"Are you done being a moron now?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile up at her, at the way the ex-heiress' lip curved upwards into a slight smirk. "I did what you wanted, now it's my turn," she said.

"Oh please, I had barely started before you-"

"We_iiiisss_s, please?"

The older girl looked absolutely miffed. "Are you begging me for sex?!"

"Y-Yeah? I mean, if you want to. You want to do all this right?"

"Ruby, for the last time, I've already said yes. You'd better stop second-guessing me before I change my mind."

"Alright, my bad," she said. "So uh, do you know what to do?"

"Yes I know what do! Just... roll onto your back!"

Ruby complied, rolling onto her back and feeling utterly exposed again. She hoped she would get used to the sensation of being naked with another person. And yet another, dirtier part of her, hoped she wouldn't. It was a strange sensation.

Weiss rolled on top of her, and after a second, placed her fingers on her center, and started sliding them up and down.

Ruby couldn't hold in a moan, a cry of pure surprise and pleasure. Having someone else down there was so much different than her own hand; when she had no control over what the other person did and how they did it. Every motion was a surprise, every movement a bewildering burst of pleasure.

"Mmm, Weiss, go faster."

"Shut up, I know what I'm doing!"

But she apparently agreed, because the fingers moved faster and faster as they grew slick from Ruby's wetness.

"Mmmmnn," she moaned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as she tried to keep her voice down. But it was a losing battle.

"Can you..."

"Can I what?" Weiss hissed.

"Can you like, put your finger inside? Of me, you know?"

"Um... I guess so..."

She gasped as she felt a slender index finger enter her. Weiss' nail pricked her slightly, but it was overshadowed completely by the pleasure she felt. She moaned a little louder than before.

"What? What? Are you okay?" Weiss nearly shouted.

"Y-Yuh, I mean yeah, that feels great. Like uh, start moving it in and out and stuff. You know how to do that right?"

"I swear," Weiss seethed, "if you ask me if I know what I'm doing one more time..."

"Yeah b-but you- auh!"

She had lost the ability to speak, simply because the sensation of Weiss' pumping finger was too great for her to bear.

The former heiress seemed to enjoy being able to shut her up, and after a few seconds added a second finger. The older girl was presumably more comfortable now, now that she knew she had her completely under control. She moved her fingers a bit further than before, and Ruby felt a sharp burst of pain as her hymen broke.

Weiss recoiled suddenly. "R-Ruby! You're bleeding!"

Ruby had to suppress a shudder as her girlfriend suddenly withdrew both fingers, but was too concerned about Weiss to worry over it. "Holy crap Weiss calm down! That's just my cherry!"

"Your... your what?"

"My... I don't know. Yang always called it uh, a cherry. She said this would happen the first time I..."

"Seriously?! We're about to have sex, and you're talking about your sister?!"

"Just stop freaking out! It's just my hymen or whatever!"

The former heiress seemed to freeze. "_Oooo_h! Your hymen? Why didn't you say anything dolt?"

"I thought it was pretty obvious what was gonna happen once you put your fingers in there!" Ruby hissed. "I mean you... wait a minute. You didn't forget about it, did you?"

Weiss crossed her thin arms over her chest. "N-No!"

"Yes you did!" Ruby laughed. "Oh my gosh you totally did!"

"Well it wasn't exactly an important topic while I was growing up! I'm sorry I was too busy learning how to run the most powerful company in the world to pay attention to things like that!"

She hugged the shorter girl, giggling all the while. "You're so cute Weiss!"

"A-Alright you dunce, you can let me go now."

"Okay," Ruby laughed. She stared at Weiss for a second, just watching the other girl and trying to etch this moment into her memory. Then she remembered what they were doing.

"O-Oh! So, uh, are you gonna... you know." She held up both hands and slid one finger into the open hole of the other. "That thing."

Weiss slammed her palm into her forehead. "Oh my god. I can't believe you."

"Well I mean I could just say 'Weiss, please put your fingers into my vagina!"

"That's even worse!"

"You know what," Ruby whispered, as she scooted closer to the former heiress, "just shut up."

She grabbed the older girl's shoulders and pulled her in, smashing their lips together for a passionate kiss.

That apparently seemed to get Weiss back on the right track, as soon enough her hand moved down to Ruby's center of it's own accord.

Ruby moaned into the kiss, trying and failing to keep up her end of the kisses. Instead she ended up panting and moaning, as Weiss dominated her with her tongue.

This time, Weiss didn't have to be told what to do. She slid two fingers in and started sliding them in and out, and all Ruby could feel was ecstasy. The pleasure was more intense than she had ever felt before, and she felt fire shoot up her spine and her limbs grow weak as Weiss worked. The heiress' other hand was massaging her right breast, which only heightened the pleasure she was feeling, the pleasure that was melting her bones and making her shiver in delight.

"_Weeiiiiss_," she moaned. "F-Faster..."

"Shut up," Weiss hissed.

But she did so anyway, forcing a third finger in and sliding them in and out faster and faster. The embarrassingly wet sound of Weiss' fingers sliding in and out of her filled the room, mixing with her moans and Weiss' labored breaths.

All she could think of was Weiss; the older girl invaded her brain and filled her mind like nothing ever had before. Through the pleasure that threatened to drown out her existence, she was still conscious of the fact that the most beautiful girl in the world, and the love of her life had three fingers inside of her, and was thrusting them in and out like her life depended on it. The thought was simply too much, and she almost blacked out as she came, _hard_.

Electricity shot through her body and her aura lit itself on fire, as it swirled around and mixed with Weiss' own. She felt one with the other girl somehow, felt like there was no one else in the entire world. She disappeared, lost herself in an ocean of white bliss and pleasure that destroyed her mind and made her curl her toes and scream muffled sounds into the pillow she had buried her face into.

When she eventually came to her senses, the first thing she felt was Weiss' hand still inside of her. She felt the naked body pressed up against her own, the slight swell of Weiss' breasts and the curve of her thighs rubbing against her own. It was better than anything she had ever felt before. She loved Weiss so much._ So_ much.

"Are you okay? Was that too much?" Weiss asked, sounding breathless and afraid.

"I-I'm fine... holy crap I'm fine. Wow holy wow that was- mmph!"

Weiss had leaned up and captured her lips, forcing her tongue into her mouth and licking all around the inside of it, as if she was relieved beyond words that Ruby was okay. After a few seconds of that, the former heiress broke off and stared at her nervously.

"I mean, I was kind of worried because you..."

"What? I what?"

Weiss simply gestured around her, and Ruby gasped in surprise as she saw what the older girl was referring to. The bed, and most of the floor, was littered with rose petals.

"Oh crap, my semblance!"

"It even smells like roses now too. Does that happen everytime you..."

"Uh, n-no. Never before. That's like... weird. Holy crap that's weird! What the heck?!"

"Forget about it Ruby. It's sort of endearing anyway. But we should clean them up."

"Can we like, do it after?"

"...Fine. Was it good?"

"Was what good?"

Weiss glared at her. "You know."

"O_oooo_h, that. It was freaking amazing!"

The older girl's expression softened. "Thanks. So you're not hurt at all then?"

"No," she laughed, "not at all. That was like, mind-blowing. And petal-blowing too, apparently."

"I can't believe you just said that."

"Oh come on, that was a good one!"

"No," Weiss replied," no it definitely wasn't. It was terrible, in fact."

Ruby only chuckled, before realizing that she had been staring at her girlfriend for a while now. Her heart pounded at the way Weiss stared back, with a mix of care and apprehension. "I love you."

"Yeah. I love you too, dolt. Even with your imbecilic jokes. So... is it my turn now?"

Ruby grinned and flopped over onto her back. "Eh, I don't know, I'm feeling pretty tired..."

She glanced at Weiss, who was staring at her with a mixture of shock, horror, and pure rage.

"Yeesh I'm just joking! I wouldn't ever do that to you!"

"You'd better not. I wouldn't ever forgive you. I'd find a new girlfriend."

"You wouldn't!"

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Try me."

The way the older girl was leering down on her, with her narrowed eyes and furrowed brow, made her look like a stalking predator. And it was _hot_, especially with Weiss clad only in a pair of panties.

Ruby bit her lower lip. "Oh it's definitely your turn now."

Now was her chance. Her chance to do every single little dirty thing she had ever imagined doing to the most beautiful girl in the world. Her chance to show Weiss how much she meant to her and make her feel better than anyone ever had. To show her how much she loved her. She remembered all the lusty glances people shot her in public, the way Neptune constantly hit on her, the way that even Jaune had tried to serenade her with his less-than-impressive guitar skills.

_"Screw all of them,"_ she thought. _"Cuz she's _mine_."_

She grabbed Weiss by the waist and lifted her up, forcing her back against the wall. She started at the former heiress' neck, leaving a trail of kisses down her flawless, snow-white skin. When she reached Weiss' waist, she bit down on the older girl's panties with her teeth. She dragged them down and off, taking a quick moment to drop them and kiss Weiss' foot. But then instead of tossing the the panties to the side, she picked them up and held them in front of her face, then licked the wet spot on the front of them.

Part of her desperately hoped that what she was doing was sexy to Weiss, but the other part simply didn't care. Every single fantasy she had about Weiss, every wet dream, now she finally had the chance to experience them.

Weiss didn't say anything, but simply stared at her wide-eyed and breathless.

"Mmm," Ruby moaned. "Tastes like vanilla."

She was lying. It tasted strange, almost tangy. But she certainly wasn't going to say that.

"So can I..."

"Can you what?"

Ruby froze momentarily, unsure of what to say, but then remembered a movie she had seen a few months ago. She held her index and middle finger up in front of her mouth in the shape of a v, then stuck her tongue in between them.

Weiss pressed a pillow to her face and screamed into it.

"W-What! Weiss what did I do?!"

The former heiress looked livid. She set the pillow down, but stared at the wall. "I swear, if Yang taught you that..."

"N-No, I saw it in a movie a little while ago. I figured it would, I mean I don't really know how to say, like _that_ thing, but I kinda want to and I wanted to know if it was okay with you before I did it, because I don't want you to get mad and-"

"Shut up Ruby, just shut up." She sighed. "Yes, you can... go down there if you want."

Ruby squealed in delight. "Okay! So just uh, move into whatever position you'll be comfortable in."

The former heiress nodded quickly, but then shifted around like she was unsure of what to do. Eventually she settled on leaning back against the wall with her legs pointed towards Ruby.

The nervousness and sexual stage-fright was still there, but now it was in the back of Ruby's mind. Her only thought now was of pleasing Weiss. Now she could finally be as dirty as she wanted to. She grabbed the heiress' thighs and pulled her down onto her back, ignoring the squeals of protest as she forced Weiss' legs open and moved her lips to the older girl's wet center.

She stared at it for a few seconds, deciding that it, and not the other girl's chest, was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She glanced up at Weiss, who was staring off to the side with the brightest blush she had ever seen on a human being.

"Weiss, it's so pretty!"

"Shut _up_," Weiss growled. "Don't ever say that again."

Grinning, she leaned forward and kissed Weiss' center. The heiress gave a sharp gasp and bit her index finger, and Ruby chuckled and started moving her tongue up and down, _slowly_. She was knew from playing with herself that what she was doing was nothing more than teasing, but she wanted to get back at Weiss for telling her to shut up so many times in one night.

"R-Ruby, stop, stop doing that."

"Stop doing what Weiss?" she asked, nothing but mocking innocence in her voice.

The older girl shuddered at the sound and her eyes fluttered shut. "Just stop doing that. I can't take it anymore."

"O-Oh, does it hurt?" she asked. "I'm so sorry!"

"No it doesn't, d-doesn't hurt, but... just, you know perfectly well w-what you're doing! Stop!"

The former heiress shuddered again, and Ruby grinned at how sexy this felt: debauching and corrupting the most beautiful girl in the world. It was a guilty pleasure for sure, but one that she was thoroughly enjoying. She almost wasn't even nervous anymore. Almost.

"Alright alright, fine," she giggled.

She lowered her head back down, grabbed the heiress' thighs - hoping that Weiss didn't notice how her hands were shaking - and forced them open, then slid her tongue inside the older girl's wet core.

It was strange, soft and wet. But she liked it.

She really didn't know what she was doing, but figured that as long as she kept doing whatever it was, and did it harder and faster over time, that Weiss wouldn't particularly mind.

The other girl gasped and grabbed Ruby's head with both of her hands, forcing her lower, deeper. Her pointed nails dug into her scalp, but she couldn't bring herself to mind.

"Ruby, just... just keep doing that. Just do that. Just-uuh!"

She hoped Weiss was close to finishing, but at the same time didn't, just so she could keep her head down here for as long as possible. The other girl's musky scent and taste was quickly becoming intoxicating.

Ruby stopped for a split second, and Weiss tried even harder to force her head back down. "Tell me when you're about to finish," Ruby managed to get out, before her face was buried in between creamy white thighs again.

"Y-You stupid dolt, I'm not gonna, gonna, augh! I'm... nnggh, I-I'm gonna! Aah!" the former heiress squealed. It was the dirtiest, most attractive thing she'd ever heard.

Ruby moved her tongue up to Weiss' most sensitive spot, and focused her efforts on it, circling her tongue around the tiny pink button. And that apparently was enough to send her girlfriend over the edge. Ruby lifted her eyes and stared at her, even while she kept her tongue going. She wanted to watch Weiss as it happened, wanted to see the look on her face.

The white-haired girl's eyes rolled up into her head and her mouth formed an 'o,' as she felt the older girl's aura blaze into life and meld with her own just like before. The feel of their auras intertwining like this was heart-stoppingly powerful, so much more than ever before.

Ruby had to remember to breathe through her nose, just to get enough air so that she wouldn't pass out.

The older girl bucked her hips and squealed, forcing Ruby's tongue deeper than she thought it could go, and she could feel Weiss' inner muscles clench and tighten around it. A small spurt of sweet-smelling, wonderful-tasting liquid flooded into Ruby's mouth, and she gasped as it rushed down her open throat. She hadn't been expecting it, and a small bit went into her wind-pipe and she went into a coughing fit, rolling off of the heiress and struggling to catch her breath.

After a few seconds she managed to cough herself okay, and she glanced at the girl who she had just eaten out. Weiss' eyes were unfocused and dull, glazed over with pleasure as she blankly stared at a point on the opposite wall.

"Weiss? You okay?"

The other girl's eyes suddenly focused and she stared at Ruby, seeming to look straight into her soul. It was chilling. "Y-Yes, I'm... that was incredible. What happened at the end though?"

"I kind of um, well, some of your... stuff, went down the wrong pipe, and I choked on it."

"You choked on my... " Weiss deadpanned.

"Yeah..."

"You're the biggest idiot I've ever met."

"Yeah, heh. But it felt good?"

"I don't think... I don't think I can really describe it with words. Oh my gosh, Ruby!"

"What?!"

"Look around!"

She did so, and was startled to find that the rose petals that still littered the bed had changed. She picked one up and touched it, recoiling from how cold it was. It took her a second to realize that the strange patterns of white covering them were in fact a light coating of frost.

"Oh holy crap Weiss! Did you do that on purpose?"

The heiress frowned as she touched one of the petals. "No, no I didn't. These are going to be even harder to clean up now. The frost is going to melt, and they're going to get the floor and bed wet."

"Well you already made it kind of wet," Ruby giggled.

Weiss flicked her on the forehead, with a visible blush on her face. "Shut up dolt."

"Ouch!" Ruby laughed. "Like seriously though, frost-covered rose petals? That's like the single cutest thing I've ever heard of!"

"It is... somewhat adorable. I suppose."

"You're not fooling me Weiss, you love them too!"

She laughed and grabbed Weiss by the shoulders, pulling her in for another kiss. The former heiress responded instantly, pressing her smaller body up against Ruby's larger, more voluptuous one. They embraced fully naked for the first time, their bodies sticky with sweat and hot with exertion.

After a few seconds, she broke off. "I love you Weiss."

"I love you too. So did I... did I do okay?"

"Seriously? I was about to ask you that! Were you nervous too?"

"Is that a serious question?!"

Ruby shrunk back under the intensity of the former heiress' glare. "Uh, yeah that was stupid. You looked pretty nervous most of time the time so... yeah, that was dumb of me."

"That's the understatement of the year," Weiss growled.

"But you totally did fine. Like, it was both of our first times right? So I'd say that we did totally fine since we didn't kill eachother or anything."

Weiss looked shocked. "We could have killed eachother?!"

"N-No, I was just trying to make a joke! At least, I don't think you can kill eachother. But then again, semblances and auras are pretty weird things, so I guess anything could have happened with us."

"Oh. Right. Well, if it means anything, you were good too. Not that I have anyone to compare you to of course, but I find myself satisfied."

"Satisfied?" Ruby grinned. "How satisfied?"

Weiss raised a white eyebrow. "What kind of question is that?"

"Well I mean, do you uh, you wanna do it again?"

"Yes! I mean, yes. Yes."

Ruby leaned forward, pressing their lips together for yet another kiss.

* * *

She returned to her senses again, for what felt like the tenth time that night. Ruby rolled onto her back, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her on top of her. She suppressed another squeal, figuring she had moaned and squealed enough for one night.

She shivered as she watched Ruby lick her own fingers, sliding them into her mouth one at a time and licking them clean of the older girl's juices.

"Stop that you dolt."

There was a popping noise as Ruby slid her pinky out, and she grinned at the former heiress. "What, too sexy for you?"

"You're insufferable." She let her head drop onto Ruby's chest, trying to ignore the feeling of the younger girl's nipples rubbing against her own, and the warmth of Ruby's thigh in between her legs. She was too tired to go again, simply too spent and exhausted. Maybe in the morning though. No, definitely in the morning.

"Well, _now_ I'm tired," Ruby laughed.

"Mmm. Me too," she agreed.

Ruby slowly ran her fingertips up her hips, and started rubbing slow circles onto her back. She had to suppress another shudder; the brunette's fingertips felt like they were charged with electricity.

"I can't believe we just did that," Ruby whispered.

"Me neither," she replied. "I'm glad we did though. I'm glad it was with you."

"Really? I thought you'd be embarrassed or something, because it was with me. Your first time was with Ruby, the giant dolt. I was kind of sorry because I took your... you know."

She pressed her lips to Ruby's in a soft kiss, leaving them there for just long enough to convey how she felt. "You have to stop thinking like that Ruby, thinking that you're not good enough for me. You are, you're even better than me in some ways. I wouldn't rather have done this with anyone else. I _wouldn't_ have done this with anyone else."

"Oh... really?"

"Yes. You're the only one I'll ever let into my bed. It might as well be your bed now too." She kissed her once more. "Now be quiet and go to sleep. I'm tired now."

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "Me too."

* * *

_**And so the rating changes to M. This is the first sex scene I've ever written, and I'd really like it if you'd give me some feedback about how it was. **_

_**If you're wondering why this chapter got taken down and re-uploaded, it's because I re-did the sex scene because it wasn't up to my standards. If you'd like to check it out again and let me know if it's improved, that'd be great.**_

_**Oh, and the lyrics at the beginning are from "Come to Me" by the Goo Goo Dolls. Weird band name.**_


	16. Chapter 14 - Gaudium

_**I pirouette in the dark  
I see the stars through me  
Tired mechanical heart  
Beats 'til the song disappears **_

_**If only the clockwork could speak  
I wouldn't be so alone  
We'd burn every magnet and spring  
And spiral into the unknown  
**_

_**Somebody shine a light  
I'm frozen by the fear in me  
Somebody make me feel alive  
And shatter me  
So cut me from the line  
Dizzy, spinning endlessly  
Somebody make me feel alive  
And shatter me! **_

* * *

_**\- One Year Later -**_

Weiss sat alone, under the shining stars and too-bright moon of an achingly clear spring night. The bench under the old oak tree was cool and smooth, and she sighed and tried to let the air clear her head. She was cold, even with Ruby's cloak around her shoulders.

The owner of the cloak herself was set to return from her last training mission sometime later tonight. Graduation day, and their commencement ceremony – where they truly became Hunters and Huntresses – was tomorrow.

Tomorrow. She would be a Huntress tomorrow.

But instead of elation or excitement, all she felt was alone. She hadn't seen Ruby in five days. She felt small and insignificant; the bench felt too big for one person, too big for her small frame. Just like her bed, which had been just as cold and empty lately as this night was. The cloak helped, but it wasn't enough.

She remembered saying farewell to Ruby, remembered kissing her goodbye seconds before the airship left as Ren yelled at her to hurry. Remembered the surprise she felt when Ruby had unclipped her cloak and handed it to her. Remembered being speechless in disbelief. Ruby never went anywhere without her cloak. The younger girl had only smiled sweetly and told her to take care of it.

She kept replaying the moment, because it was the last time she had touched her. Heard her voice, held her, felt her.

How had one simple human being reduced her to such a pathetic mess of emotions? She was Weiss Schnee, and she was proud and strong and independent, just like a member of her estranged bloodline should be. Her ancestors had fought the Grimm with fire and fury, and she was following in their footsteps. She shouldn't let herself be controlled, whether intentionally or not, by someone else.

But she couldn't help it. She missed Ruby. The brunette's absence felt like a physical hole in her, like the ache of something missing that something shouldn't be.

It actually hurt. Ruby's absence physically hurt, somewhere deep in her chest.

A small part of her railed against it. It cried out at her, telling her that it was weak and pathetic to be so dependent on someone else. To be so horribly in love that when she was gone, everything was different, somehow lesser, somehow inferior. All color seemed to bleach out of the world. It was hard to even be happy about something as simple as winning a duel or getting an A+ on a test. When Ruby wasn't around, life didn't particularly seem worth living.

She hoped that one day she would get over this aching feeling, this sensation of loss and desperation that held such a firm grip over her heart.

But another part of her desperately hoped that she never would.

Because when Ruby was around, life was suddenly worth living and so much more. Colors were brighter, nights were warmer, and every touch and every kiss felt tender and new.

She was an orphan now, an outcast with no real home. Staring up at the stars, she felt like a moon that had been trapped in Ruby's gravity, like an planetoid caught in the orbit of a far greater and far more luminous being. She would stay that way, she felt, bathing in Ruby's warmth and light where she herself remained cold and distant.

But she knew the part of her that believed that was self-deprecating. Because with Ruby, she had a home. Whenever Ruby warmed her bed, she too was warm, and that, among other things, was why she never wanted this feeling to fade.

Love.

It was terrible, it was beautiful, and it consumed her entire being.

She knew she should be thinking about her future, thinking about graduation, thinking about what she was going to do with her life after tomorrow.

But gazing up at the impossibly distant heavens, all she could think about was Ruby. Wherever her girlfriend was, she wondered if she was thinking about her too.

_"Dolt... I miss you. Does she miss me too? What is she thinking right now?"_

* * *

_"Holy crap, just die already!"_

Gouts of blood spurted from the last beowolf's neck as Ruby dragged the blade of Crescent Rose through it, and the creature's body finally collapsed to the ground in a steadily growing pool of crimson.

She let out a relieved sigh and stood, slinging the heavy scythe over her shoulders and holding it like a carrying pole. "I think that was the last of 'em. You see anymore Ren?"

"None," he replied. From his vantage point in a tree above their rag-tag 'team,' he had a much better view of the surrounding forest. "I think you're right. Most likely that was all of them."

"It had better be," a man with a green sleeveless jacket and a matching mohawk replied. He stood as well, prying two daggers out of the corpse of another beowolf. "I'm starting to get tired of all these beowolves. We've already lasted five days out here, shouldn't our test be over now?"

A high pitched, lilted voice responded to him. "Do not complain while you are still alive, Russel Thrush. If you let your guard down to do it, you might not be so for much longer. These woods are treacherous."

Jaerla Oddsdöttir crouched down on her haunches and brushed her hand across the surface of what looked to be an old game trail. "Besides, what you say is true. It has been five days, and our test should be over momentarily. So instead of complaining, should you not instead focus on remaining alert and alive?"

Russel stared at her for a few seconds, then sheathed the knives into holsters on his thighs and walked away. "Whatever," he mumbled. "You're crazy."

Ruby took a deep, long breath, enjoying the cool night air of the Emerald Forest. The darkness shadowed the trees, turning the normally vibrant and colorful woods into something darker and more ominous. She saw Grimm everywhere, in the shadows, beneath the trees, peering out from the bushes.

But she shook her head, and when she re-opened her eyes, they were gone.

_"Ugh, I need to sleep soon. I'm starting to see things,"_ she thought to herself.

Ren dropped down from his tree, landing next to Ruby. "He's kind of right. It's been five days now, and our test should be over. Why hasn't Goodwitch come and got us yet?"

Ruby tapped her chin in thought. "Well, are you sure she knows where we are? We all still have our trackers, right?"

"I've got mine," Ren replied.

"I have mine as well," Jaerla quipped.

"Thrush?" she asked.

He didn't turn to face them, but simply held up his tracker as a response.

"Alright, so that rules that out. I guess we'll just have to wait here, wait for Goodwitch to come get us. I'm sure something just held her up."

"When have you known her to be late though Ruby?" Ren replied.

"...True. Either way we don't know what the situation is, so we shouldn't rush blindly off to do something about it. We should stay put until we know what's going on."

Russel finally turned around. "Screw that. Beacon's only a good two-hour walk away, let's just head back."

"What, in the middle of the night?" Ren replied. "All we're gonna do is get lost and killed out there if we go wandering around in the dark. Ruby's right, we should just stay put and wait for Goodwitch."

"What's gonna get us killed is hanging around here!" Russel snapped back. He took a step towards Ren. "At least if we're moving, the wolves can't get a fix on us. But if we stay here, they're just gonna keep coming until we're meat. And we're supposed to graduate tomorrow! Sounds like a pretty fucking stupid time to die, huh?"

"Russel," Ruby forced out. "Stop arguing. We're staying put and waiting for Goodwitch. I'm the team leader, and that's final."

"Screw you man," he replied. He turned his back and waved his hand in dismissal, then started walking off into the forest. "I'm not staying here to die. I'll see you guys back at Beacon."

"Russel, s_top_."

The force in her words made him halt in his tracks, but he didn't turn around. "Why should I?"

She pointed her finger at the ground in front of her. "Because I'm the leader of this team. And you're a member of this team. And that means you follow my orders."

"You're not my team leader," he spat. He turned around and pointed a shining dagger at her. "Cardin is."

"But Goodwitch put you in this team, and she made _me_ team leader. So once again, I'm your team leader. You can't argue that."

"Fine, whatever, you're my team leader. Big fuckin' deal. But I'm not gonna die out here. I'm going back to Beacon, and you all," he pointed his dagger at Ren and Jaerla in turn, "can either follow me, or you can stay here and die too."

She had had enough. She unslung Crescent Rose and extended it in one smooth motion, ending the move with the barrel pointing directly at Russel's chest. "As your team leader, I hereby _order_ you to stay here and wait for Goodwitch."

"Or what?" he laughed. He grinned and unsheathed his second dagger, flipping it up into the air and catching it without any apparent effort. "You gonna shoot me?"

"No," she growled, "but I'll stop you all the same. You're staying here, like it or not. But how many broken bones you do that with is up to you."

She glanced at her other two team members, who were just standing silently by. She cursed as she remembered that Ren and Jaerla were never exactly talkative types, or the type to take action without a clear reason to. She realized she was on her own here.

She grit her teeth and made her decision. This was her team, and Goodwitch had put her in charge for a reason. Ozpin had made her a team leader all those years ago, and she fully believed she had excelled in the role. This was her chance to prove it. This was her final test, she realized.

Before she moved though, she glanced to either side one last time, and saw something she didn't expect.

Ren had Storm Flower aimed at Russel, and Jaerla was doing the same with Flammifer, her bow.

She grinned. Maybe she wasn't on her own.

"Well I'm not gonna make the first move," Russel announced. "If you want to attack a member of your team, go ahead and be my guest. I'm not gonna get blamed for it."

"But you will get blamed for directly disobeying your team leader, yes?" Jaerla replied.

"Ruby's in the right here Russel," Ren added. "We haven't slept in days and everybody's tense. Just make this easy and back down."

A brittle tension hung in the air as they remained that way for a few breathless moments, aiming their respective weapons at eachother.

Then Russel gave one last glance at the three of them in turn, sheathed his weapons, and plopped down on the ground. "Fine. But if we're staying, we should build a fire. I'm fuckin' cold."

"There will be no need for a fire," a voice announced, "which would also give away your position to every Grimm in the forest," Glynda Goodwitch dropped out of a nearby tree, startling all of them. "That was the final part of your test, as you may have surmised."

Russel stood, and Ruby retracted Crescent Rose. Ren sheathed Storm Flower, and Jaerla slung Flammifer.

Goodwitch eyed each of them in turn. "And I'm happy to say that you passed. Although you came closer than many to failing. The test, as you've probably surmised, was not of your ability to kill Grimm, or even to survive for multiple days in hostile territory. It was simply a test of your ability to co-operate with other Hunters and Huntresses, those specifically not of your team. You have been working with the same three people for much of the past four years, and obviously at this point, your ability to do any of the the things I previously mentioned is not in doubt. But when you graduate and earn the title of Hunter, you will most likely split from your team. You will work with other Hunters, of all different nationalities and backgrounds."

"And for the most part," she looked pointedly at Russel, "you have demonstrated your ability to co-operate with others, even when you have differences of opinion on how things should be done. So I congratulate you all. You have passed. You have my permission to graduate tomorrow. Return to Beacon."

With that she flashed her wand and stepped into a violet portal that materialized out of thin air, and that promptly disappeared as soon as she did.

Ruby looked around at the four of them. Russel looked angry, Ren had a small grin, and Jaerla looked as nonplussed as ever.

"How long was she up there?" Ren mumbled. "Well anyway, now you can finally go back Russel."

"Yeah," Russel mumbled. "Whatever. Let's get back."

Ruby took one last look at the locket she had pulled from around her neck, the one with pictures of Weiss in it. She smiled, closed it, and slid it back into her dirty, sweat-stained shirt.

"Yeah," she whispered to herself. "Let's get back."

* * *

"Weiss!"

The white-haired former heiress turned in shock, and was nearly tackled to the cobblestone ground of Beacon's courtyard by her ecstatic girlfriend.

"Oof! Get off me you dolt! I told you not to surprise me like that!"

In seconds her heart was nearly pounding out of her chest, and all the aching sadness that Ruby's absence had brought about vanished in an instant. She was happy now, completely and unreasonably happy. It didn't make sense; it wasn't logical in the slightest that a single person should be able to make her feel so warm and content with their mere presence.

But Ruby did. And she couldn't bring herself to feel anything but a deep satisfaction at that.

Ruby released her from the crushing hug and held her by the shoulders, with the brightest and happiest smile Weiss could remember seeing in a long time. "Aww, you missed me too!"

"Whatever," she replied, huffing and flipping a strand of white hair out of her face. "You were barely gone for a week. Your cloak is fine too, it's upstairs."

Ruby frowned, and somehow mimicked the expression of a kicked puppy. "But you still missed me, right?"

She blushed, silently cursing the fact that Ruby could still do that to her that after all these years. "...Yes. Yes I missed you, you big dolt."

"Well obviously," Ruby laughed. The brunette grabbed her by the hand and started to drag her back to their room. "I mean it's almost midnight. Why else would you be out here by yourself this late, unless you were waiting for me?"

"I wasn't waiting for you!"

"Oh yeah?" Ruby replied with a smirk. "What were you doing out here then?"

"I was... I was going to the library for some late-night studying."

"Weiss, the library's been closed for two hours. And the final tests are over with."

"Well I..."

Ruby suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in, pressing her lips to hers in a warm and powerful kiss. Weiss smiled into it, as much as she tried to remain aloof. She didn't know why she was still trying to be mad at her girlfriend, but she realized she was probably just subconsciously resentful that the younger girl had been absent for the last four days. Even if it wasn't her fault.

"Stop with the front Weiss," Ruby whispered. "You don't have to act all cold and stuff around me. We're best friends, remember?"

"We're more than that, you dunce," she whispered back.

Ruby opened the door to their dorm, then turned and eyed her with a predatory look.

"What are you-"

The taller girl suddenly snaked her hands down Weiss' pants and grabbed her rear, and she tried to hold in a gasp, but failed.

Ruby brushed her lips against the shell of her ear, and the cold had nothing to do with her shivering. She whispered in her ear, drawing out the words and making them sound incredibly attractive. "Well why don't you show me just what exactly we are then, once we get up to our room?"

She could only nod silently in reply.

She felt Ruby grin against her ear. "Think of it as... an early graduation present."

* * *

Ruby kissed a gentle trail down the curve of Weiss' bare, flawless back, humming as she did so and reveling in the attractiveness of the older girl's shuddering body.

"You're so beautiful," she whispered.

"S-Shut up dolt, I know."

She rolled onto her side, pulling Weiss into the natural curve of her body. "Oh you know, huh? That sounds a little, uh what's the word... conceited, yeah."

Normally she wouldn't even think of toying with the famous Ice Queen, but she was in a teasing mood.

"I am _not_ conceited. And I'm surprised you know what a word that big means."

"Oh come on, you have to expect that some of your grammar would rub off on me sooner or later."

Weiss huffed. "Don't let too much of it catch on, wouldn't want you to start sounding intelligent or anything."

She giggled in reply. "Ooh, that was cold. C'mon, you're not normally this mean after sex. What's wrong? Wanna go again?"

Weiss pressed herself further back into her girlfriend; it was quite cold in the room, and the air was cooling the sweat on their bodies. "No, I think I'm fine. Three is fine for tonight."

"Eesh, good, cuz I'm still sore." Ruby couldn't hold in a grin; Weiss had turned out to be a complete nymphomaniac. Once they had gotten over their initial sexual awkwardness and figured out what the other liked, sex had become a much more open and frequent thing. Whether it was her repressed sexual desires while she was being trained as a heiress or something different, Ruby didn't know, but regardless of the reason, the older girl wanted sex _all_ the time.

And she was grinning because she _certainly_ didn't have a problem with it.

"How do you use Crescent Rose for almost six years, and then become sore from just a little sex?" Weiss whispered.

"It's never 'just a little sex' Weiss. Be honest."

"Well... okay. But still, as a Huntress who graduates tomorrow, you should be displaying greater stamina than this."

"Heh, Grimm don't have anything on you Princess."

Ruby could see the blush on her girlfriend's face even in the dark. "And uh, hey Weiss?"

"Yes?"

"I'm still kinda curious about something."

The former heiress shifted slightly, and Ruby winced as their tangling legs caused one of hers to start cramping up. "That infamous curiosity of yours," Weiss replied." What do you want to know now?"

"Just like, I kinda wanna know more about you. Like, that whole demiromantic thing."

Weiss was silent for a moment.

"Well... I don't know a whole lot about it myself," she muttered.

"Oh, I mean like, I just meant about you. Like, I was doing a little reading up on it cuz I was curious, and there's apparently a difference between demiromantic and demisexual. One is romantic attraction, and I guess the other is like, you know... sexual stuff. There's also aromanticism and all this other stuff, which is where you don't feel attracted to anyone period. Were you like that?"

"As far as I know Ruby, I'm only demiromantic. The... the first time I've ever felt attracted to anyone is with you, and that was only after we'd known eachother for more than two years. From what I read it can vary from person to person though, some other people can be attracted to another person after only knowing them for a few weeks, or even a few days. It's like... when you see a pretty girl on the street, are you attracted to her?"

"Well I mean not really, cuz I have you and all."

Weiss shifted around and gave her a quick kiss. "Thanks you dunce. But objectively."

"Well I mean I guess. But I wouldn't ever think about that kind of stuff because we're dating and-"

"Ugh, Ruby, you're overthinking this. If I wasn't here, and you saw a hot girl on the street, would you be attracted to her, yes or no."

"Uh... yes?"

"Alright, good." Weiss chuckled. The older girl twisted around so that she was facing her, and then she rested her head on her shoulder. "Now I don't experience anything like that. I don't feel any sort of attraction to anyone at all, apparently unless I have a very strong emotional connection with them, like you. Perhaps that's one reason it was so easy to put people down all the time."

"They didn't call you the Ice Queen for nothing," she laughed. "But I think you've changed and all that. You're a lot nicer to most people now."

"Don't get used to it," Weiss grumbled. "It's not like it's on purpose or anything, you just gave me a different perspective on things. Anyway, does that satiate your insatiable curiosity?"

"Yeah, I'm good now. That's pretty cool that you're like that, I think. I don't think it's weird or anything, don't worry."

"Thanks dunce."

Ruby hummed in contentment as Weiss gave her another kiss, then snuggled into the crook of her neck. Having the heiress' head there felt perfect and natural, like it was somehow meant to be. She knew it was just melodramatic wishful thinking, but that didn't make the whole thing feel any less special. Weiss' alabaster hair was glowing faintly in the light from the painted starfield on the ceiling, and Ruby simply stared at it with a faint smile on her lips, hoping that the moment never had to end. Hoping that she and Weiss could just stay this way, forever.

"I'm gonna miss this room," she mumbled.

"Me too," the older girl admitted. "We made some memories in here. It's the closest thing to a real home I've ever had as well."

Ruby giggled. "Well when you consider White Castle, I can see why'd you think that."

"...Hey Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to make... one last memory?"

She couldn't hold in a laugh. "Are you serious? You want to go again?"

"...Maybe. If that's alright with you."

Ruby grinned. "You're... insatiable. That's the word, right?"

The former heiress chuckled, then replied, "Yes, that's the word I used earlier. And I suppose it _could_ apply to me."

"If it means what I think it means, then you're just being stubborn about not admitting it. It totally applies to you."

"Whatever, who cares if it does or doesn't." the heiress breathed, already shifting their bodies closer and sliding a hand down Ruby's defined abs. " Just shut up and start kissing me."

"As you wish Princess," Ruby giggled.

She wouldn't relish being sore in the morning, but it was worth it.

_"Oh yes,"_ she thought, as Weiss nibbled at her neck. The older girl ran thin fingers down her back with one hand, and with the other slowly massaged her center, almost tortuously so. _"It's so worth it."_

* * *

Hours later, in the strange not-dawn yet not-dark moments of the time-between-times, Weiss lay awake.

Ruby was snoring softly beside her, and she couldn't help but feel the strange longing that she had felt earlier, before the other girl had returned. The need to be with Ruby, the need to draw her as close as possible so that she could never fade away or disappear.

She was worried, anxious of the future. Nothing in her life was guaranteed anymore, and as loathsome as it had been to have her future controlled by her parents and determined by her gender, at least it had been certain. It had been concrete, set in stone, and she had grown to enjoy certainty and predictability. Her world had been ordered and structured, and anything that was out of place was soon set back in to it.

She caught herself wondering if that was why she was attracted to Ruby. The girl was so out of place compared to everyone else, unable to be restricted or tied down by any set of rules or standards. She was so free and open. Open like the future was.

Anything could happen. One or both of them could be killed by Grimm, they could be murdered by the White Fang – who she had not forgotten about – or they could even wind up with no money and no home, starving in the winter because of the lack of a stable income. She knew the last one was unlikely, but _anything _could happen. And anything scared her.

So she rolled on top of Ruby, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders and entangled her legs with her legs. She held on tighter than ever before, desperate to make the most of every moment she had with her until they were parted.

Because a sick, cynical part of her whispered that that was exactly what was going to happen. Ruby would be taken from her, one way or another. Whether her death was violent or peaceful, from murder or old age, Ruby would be stolen away from her one day.

She let out a gentle sigh in the pre-dawn light creeping through the curtain, rested her head in the crook of Ruby's neck, and quieted her mind. She knew that one day she wouldn't have Ruby anymore. But until that day came, she would hold on as tight as she could.

* * *

Fire blazed in torches mounted on the walls. The flame was strong, powerful, alive.

Strong, powerful, and _alive_, like the Hunters and Huntresses standing at attention in serried ranks upon the fire-lit courtyard in the midst of the gloaming.

At the head of the courtyard was a wooden stage, and upon it stood Professor Ozpin and his colleagues, in far more regal and ornate attire than they usually wore. Silence reigned, silence and the flickering sound of the torches.

A low breeze drifted through the open space, carrying stray leaves and swirls of dust with it.

_Graduation day. _

Those words, and the meaning behind them, resonated through the minds of every single person in attendance, but none more strongly so than Ruby Rose.

Most everyone's faces were hard and grim, befitting the solemnity of the occasion, but Ruby could not keep an almost painful grin from her face. She couldn't stop smiling. She was excited and ecstatic beyond belief, because she had _finally_ done it.

She had lived up to all of her childhood heroes and proved everyone who doubted her wrong. She had done it. She was a _Huntress_. A defender of humans and faunus, a slayer of Grimm. The first, last, and best line of defense between civilization and the savage, mindless creatures that threatened to destroy it.

She had done it. She was a Huntress.

"This," Ozpin's voice echoed through the courtyard, "is a solemn, and glorious day."

Every single eye in the room was on him.

Except for Ruby's, her eyes were on the girl in white standing to her left. Because that girl was trying her damnest to look hard and resolute, which combined with her short stature, had the effect of making her look unbearably cute.

"On this day, we release you out into the world with our blessing. You are fully trained Hunters and Huntresses, and you carry with you all of the honor and strength that past Hunters carried with them. Yours is a long, proud tradition. You saved human and faunus kind, pulled them from the brink of destruction with the powers of dust and your steadfast and unwavering courage. And you will continue to do say from this day forward. I am sure of it."

He cleared his throat, then continued. "Perhaps you expected this ceremony to be long and ornate. I am here to tell you that it is not. I simply deliver this speech, and then you are released from our care and instruction to go and make your way in this world. It will not be long, and it will not be ornate, because _you_ will not be."

While he spoke, he took the time to lock eyes with each and every person in the room. "Most of you will die violent, terrible deaths. Your lives will be short. You will not be thanked for what you do, except monetarily. You will sometimes be under-appreciated in society, and most of you will die unsung and unremembered. That is our way now. We stand silent and ready, ready to fight back the black tide of Grimm that stand ever ready to defile our cities and feast upon our bodies."

Ruby noticed Weiss drawing herself up, so that she stood as tall as she was able. But given how effective it was, it was no wonder the girl wore high-heeled boots. She was stuck trying to decide whether to devote her attention to the speech, or to the beautiful and unbearably adorable girl next to her.

She knew the speech was important, but... Weiss was just so cute.

"I am confident in every single one of you. The fact that you have graduated from Beacon Academy says all that needs to be said. It says something about your skills and abilities, it says something about you as a person. It says something about the team you have worked with, it says something about your partner, and it says something about your ability to co-operate and work with others."

He paused, took a breath, then continued. "It says you are now Hunters and Huntresses of Grimm. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is all that needs to be said. You are dismissed."

With that, he strode off of the stage, and the other professors followed him.

The gathered hunters looked around at eachother, unsure of what to do, and then steadily started breaking apart. They gathered in groups and hugged eachother, cried with eachother, laughed with eachother. Team JNPR came together for one large group hug. Team CRDL bumped fists and chests.

Yang suddenly grabbed her from the side and pulled her into a back-breaking hug. "R_uuuu_by! We did it!"

"Ack! I-I know!"

"Aah! We did it!" The blonde squealed in sheer joy, and then dropped her younger sister. She rustled the brunette's hair one last time, then turned to Blake and smiled at her. The faunus smiled back. Then they stepped forward and embraced eachother.

Ruby took a moment to step back and watch everyone, and then turned to Weiss. The white-haired girl had her arms crossed, and was staring at her expectantly.

"So?" the former heiress asked. She had to slightly raise her voice to be heard over the crowd.

"So...what?" she replied.

"What do you want to do now?"

"Um. I dunno really. Aren't you like, happy? We graduated!"

Weiss merely raised an eyebrow. "And now we have far more to worry about than we did an hour ago. I fail to see why I should be happy over an achievement like this. Maybe you didn't, but I knew I was going to graduate the second I chose to enroll here."

"Yeesh, tone down the serious stuff Princess. We gotta do something to celebrate tonight!"

"I suppose."

"So is there anything in particular you wanna do? We could go to dinner, catch a movie, uh, just walk around town, something like that?"

"I'd honestly prefer to stay in Ruby. I don't much feel like going anywhere tonight."

"Oh... well, that's fine!" She perked up, her boundless enthusiasm quickly recovering. "We can just stay in our room and watch movies or something! And this time my scroll is charged, don't worry."

Weiss chuckled at that. "That sounds nice. But we'll need to-"

"Uh uh uh!" Yang interrupted. She pushed her way in between the two of them, wrapping her arms around their shoulders. Weiss endured the contact with a heavy grimace.

"JNPR's totally going out tonight to some bar tonight, and they invited us! So that means we're going too!" the blonde announced. "And I'm dragging Ruby along whether you like it or not Weiss, so unless you want to spend graduation night all sad and alone, you're gonna have to come with."

"I hate you," Weiss muttered.

"I know," Yang replied with a grin. "But it'd be _cold_ of me to leave you behind. You could even say my heart was _frozen_. Like in _ice _and-"

Blake appeared and placed her hand over the blonde's mouth. Yang's eyes lit up, and a moment later the faunus withdrew her hand in shock.

"You licked me?" Blake sounded as incredulous as Ruby had ever heard her. But with the dull monotone of her voice, even that somehow sounded insincere. "What are you, sixteen?"

"Whatev's kitty cat. You know how to use your tongue better than-"

Blake promptly smacked her on the back of the head, and Ruby couldn't help but be reminded of a cat batting at an offending object. She broke down into giggles, while Weiss simply stared on in disbelief.

"How in the _world_ did I end up with you buffoons?" the former heiress asked.

Yang wrapped her arms around the four of them, and pulled them all into an uncomfortable, awkward group hug. Weiss ended up more crushed than anything else, stuck between all three taller women. She tried to push her way out, but Ruby simply wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into her chest, giggling the whole time.

"Who knows?" Yang laughed. "But we love eachother all the same. To Team RWBY!"

"To Team RWBY!" Ruby yelled.

"Go RWBY," Blake deadpanned, her voice muffled by Yang's shoulder.

"Let! Me! Out of here!" Weiss squealed.

* * *

_**If you want the full effect for this scene, listen to Mass Effect 2's Lower Afterlife theme while reading this.**_

* * *

"This... this is the bar JNPR picked?" Blake asked incredulously.

And if _Blake_ was incredulous – or showing emotion at all – that truly meant something. Whether that something was good or bad remained to be seen, at least as far as Ruby could tell.

The bar, the _Crimson Fountain_ as the sign outside the door had said, was upscale, expansive, and red. It was a Friday night, and the place was already packed. Pounding electronic music was playing from overhead speakers, and everything was red: the leather couches were red, the bar stools were red, the lights hanging from the ceiling and bathing the walls in red were, well, red. Not a bright red, but a dark, muted shade, like congealed blood or long-dead roses.

"Well I like it," Ruby said.

She heard only silence in reply, and turned to see the other three members of her team - all dressed in suitable evening attire - staring at her.

"What?"

Blake shook her head and walked past, Yang patted her on the shoulder, and Weiss glared at her.

"What?"

"You're an idiot," Weiss replied. The older girl grabbed her by the shoulder and started pulling her to the back of the bar, where Team JNPR were already occupying a rather large, and rather red table. Nora was waving them over. Ruby followed along and tried not to stare downward, where Weiss' teal pencil skirt was doing wonderful things to her rear end as she walked.

They took their seats across from JNPR. Jaune was glancing nervously at his cherry cosmopolitan, trying to figure out why Nora and Pyrrha were giggling at him derisively. Ren was sipping some strange concoction, and Yang was already motioning a waiter over.

"Right, first order of business, a round of shots for everyone!" the blonde announced. Weiss groaned.

Yang turned to the waiter. "Vodka. None of that wimpy shit either, give us the strongest stuff you got."

The waiter gave her a strange look, but promptly retreated towards the bar.

Weiss slouched forward onto her elbows. "I hate you Yang."

"You can't say that more than once in one day Weiss," the blonde replied. "What are you slouching for anyway? Aren't you supposed to be the prim and proper heiress?"

"This music is giving me a headache. And also, I stopped having to uphold my family's image a year ago. Get with the program you imbecile."

"Ouch, that's a new one," Yang laughed. "So, JNPR! What're your guys plans?"

Ruby heard Weiss mutter: "that's 'what _are_ your plans' you illiterate buffoon."

As Team JNPR launched into their post-Beacon plans, she chuckled and hugged her girlfriend, who was clutching her forehead. "Is this music really giving you a headache though Weiss? We can just leave and go do something else."

"No... No it's fine. We can stay. I can withstand this terrible music and horrible choice in decor for a few hours longer."

Ruby smiled and squeezed Weiss' hand, then turned back to the table and caught the back end of Yang's question. "-picked this place anyway? It's uh... kinda different. Not saying I don't like it though."

"It was actually Nora," Pyrrha answered.

"Hey! Don't make fun of my taste in music!" the ginger yelled.

Ren sighed. "Nora, no one said anything about the music."

"Oh. Oopsie! I'm just super defensive I guess. By the way have you seen what I did to Magnhild? Where are those shots! Red is a really cool color. Ruby! Do you like this place?"

"Yeah," the brunette answered with a smile, "it's really awesome! You've got good taste."

"Thanks! Ooh here come the shots!"

The waiter arrived on cue, and began placing a rather full shot glass in front of each of them.

Ruby glanced to her right to see Weiss staring at hers with an emotional cocktail of fear, trepidation, and disgust. The older girl turned to her. "This is going to be a long night, isn't it?"

She smirked and picked up her own glass, mirroring everyone else at the table. "Guess we'll just have to find out, huh Princess?"

* * *

"Princ_eeee_ss, what's wrong?"

"You're drunk Ruby. Leave me alone," Weiss replied. She was sitting by herself on one of the red couches, alone in a quiet corner of the bar. The rest of Teams RWBY and JNPR were still at the table, talking rather loudly about their adventures at Beacon.

"I'm not dr_uuu_nk," she replied. She wondered how Weiss could tell how intoxicated she was, but then she realized that even _she_ could tell that her words were slurred. If one could tell that one was slurring one's own words, things were bad for one.

Or good, depending on how you looked at being drunk. She still wasn't much of a fan, but she had to admit that she was beginning to enjoy the way the world seemed to spin and sway, and how good it felt to not be able to do anything but laugh at everything. Even still though, seeing Weiss alone in the corner had sobered her up a good degree. Even with the alcohol flowing through her veins, she was still worried. And come to think of it, she hadn't even noticed the older girl leave the table in the first place.

"Yes, you are drunk," the former heiress replied. She shrugged off Ruby's hand, and scooted further away.

Ruby frowned, and sat down on the other end of the couch. "Alright, yeah I kinda am a little bit. But like, you? Why aren't you drunk and stuff?"

"Because I only had one shot Ruby. I'm not drinking tonight."

"Well like... why not?"

Weiss suddenly turned and glared at her. "Because I'm not, alright! And you shouldn't be either! We can't afford to be forgetting our problems right now!"

"Wh_ooaaa_h, slow down there Weissy-girl. I mean, like what problems?"

The older girl avoided her gaze. "I don't know why I'm even bothering to talk to you right now. You clearly aren't capable of maintaining a serious conversation." She glanced down and brushed something off of her white blouse, then returned to staring out at the crowded bar.

Whether she meant them to or not, Weiss' words hurt, and she struggled to gain control of herself and sharpen her mind into some semblance of it's sober self. Something was clearly bothering Weiss, and she wouldn't be fine until she knew what it was and at least attempted to deal with it. Normally when Weiss wasn't feeling okay, she felt the same. It was a symptom of loving someone: caring for them more than you did yourself. And the alcohol was amplifying her emotions, making her feel even more strongly than she usually did. To the point where seeing Weiss like this was close to driving her to tears.

So for Weiss, she tried her best to be serious.

"Weiss, I'm sorry. I know I'm drunk, but I'm sober enough to realize something's wrong. You remember what I said? That you can tell me anything? Nothing's changed. Heck, we're even closer than we were then. So you can tell me, like anything."

Weiss turned and looked at her again, as she rested her chin on her palm. This time her gaze was searching, as if she was looking for something within her eyes. After a few seconds where Ruby could only frown and hope she looked serious enough, Weiss finally shut her eyes, and spoke.

"Fine. I'm sorry for being short with you. I'm just worried."

"Worried? About what?"

"Just... everything. The future. Being Huntresses. What'll happen to us."

"So you're worried about what we're gonna do after Beacon? The future?"

"That's the thing Ruby. It's not the future anymore. After Beacon is now. We don't have anymore time to prepare for the future, because it's already here."

"But... why are you like, worried?" She scooted a tad closer, and the move wasn't lost on the former heiress, who eyed the closing distance between them with a mix of trepidation and regret. But she didn't move any further away. "Cuz I mean, we're gonna be Huntresses, just like we wanted. We're gonna take jobs, and kill Grimm and help people, and all that kind of stuff. What are you worried about?"

"Ruby, I would say it's the alcohol in you talking, but I know you're this idealistic and optimistic normally. The reason I'm sca... worried about the future, is because it's so uncertain. We might not _get_ jobs. We might not make enough to support ourselves. And we might..."

"You're scared. I heard that."

The heiress shut her eyes and leaned sideways, resting her head on her shoulder. "Fine. Yes, I'm scared."

"Don't be," she whispered. "We'll be fine. We have eachother."

"You can't guarantee that," Weiss whispered back. "What happens if one of us dies on a mission? What if _you_ die? What will I do? How will I ever pick up the pieces of my life again? If I even feel like trying to, that is. And I don't think I will."

"Weiss, don't talk like that." She brushed her lips against the former heiress' cheek, and the older girl leaned further into her. "I'm not gonna leave you. I told you I never would, remember? I told you I'll never leave you, and I _mean_ that, more than I've ever meant anything before. I'm not gonna leave you. I won't let something take me from you, or take you from me. I'll kill anything that tries."

"But you can't promise that Ruby." Weiss exhaled long and slow, then turned slightly so that she could rest her head in the crook of her neck. "You can't promise that, no matter how much you want to."

Ruby was at a loss for words. At this point, she knew nothing she could say could placate her distressed girlfriend. "Well... I don't really know what to say then. I mean, this sounds kinda harsh, but what else can you do but just try and live your life anyway? You can't just sit there and worry all the time, all it's gonna do is like, drag you down and stuff. I mean I guess you could just, like, leave and forget about me..."

"Don't say that," Weiss hissed. "Don't ever say that again."

"O_oo_kay, sorry. I love you too. But like, you're just gonna have to try and live anyway, you know? You can't live in fear of what might happen, you can only really try your hardest to make sure that the bad stuff doesn't happen. So just... live with me, okay? I don't mean like, come live with me, but like, _live_ with me. Just... I know we can do this. We can build a life, as cheesy as that sounds, one where you can do whatever you want and not be controlled by anyone. We can do it together. We'll be good. I have you, and you have me. I think that's all we really need."

Weiss was silent for a long time, and Ruby focused on the sound of her breathing and tuned out all the background noise of the crowded bar.

Then finally she spoke, in a gentle whisper. "Yes. I think that's all we really need. I'll try this, being a Huntress with you. Being with you. Thank you."

She smiled, and the burst of happiness she felt at Weiss' words nearly overpowered her as she snuggled into her girlfriend. "Mmm, it's no problem, at all. I love yo_uuu_."

"Ugh, you're drunk," Weiss replied. But she did so with a giggle and a lighter tone than before. "But I love you too. Maybe we really can do this."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "I think we can."

* * *

"Seeya JNPR!" Yang yelled.

Team JNPR waved their goodbyes, and then began walking or stumbling down the well-lit city street.

"Well that was fun," Ruby quipped. Her vision was still a bit blurry, but she had sobered up noticeably, enough for the cold of the night to cause her to shiver. Her concern for Weiss had driven her to stop drinking early. "Wait, don't they need a taxi or something to get to the airstation?"

Yang waved her hand dismissively. "Naw, they said they got a hotel near here. They're good. But that leaves us, and we _do_ need a taxi."

"It's nearly two Yang,"Blake said. "What kind of taxi is going to pick us up this late?"

The blonde looked incredulous, which, combined with the flushed shade of her cheeks due to the alcohol in her system, made her look oddly like a grinning clown. "It's like, a friday night kitten. _All _of them are gonna be running this late. They know how the bars work."

Weiss chose that moment to interject. "So I assume none of you imbeciles is up to speaking coherently to a taxi driver? Blake?"

The faunus shrugged. "I didn't bring my scroll. I don't ever bring it when we go out drinking, Yang gets stupid ideas when she's drunk."

The blonde chuckled, then laughed, and then nearly collapsed in hysterics before she managed to steady herself on her partner.

The laughter was more contagious than usual due to the alcohol, and Ruby found herself joining in, and even Blake broke out in a rare smile. Weiss merely shook her head in disdain and pulled out her scroll. But then she frowned and held it up in front of her face. Her eyes started scanning left to right, like she was reading something.

"Weiss, everything alright?" Ruby asked.

"Yes it's just... I got a message from my moth-" She dropped the scroll and covered her mouth in shock.

"What! Weiss what's wrong?!"

The heiress didn't say anything, just pointed down at the scroll. Blake and Yang looked on in confusion as she picked up the scroll and read the message for herself. She couldn't make out most of what it said due to it being in old Atlesian, but she could certainly make out the sum of Lien highlighted at the bottom.

She dropped the scroll. Yang winced.

"Uh, Ruby?" the blonde questioned. "What's wrong?"

"Weiss..." Ruby questioned, "does that number mean what I think it means?"

The former heiress covered her face with her hands, then exhaled and let them fall to her sides. "She says it's a graduation present. Apparently it comes out of her personal accounts, not my father's and not the company's."

Ruby was speechless. "That's like... that's like..."

"Enough to buy a house, yes. Enough to buy an entire house. She's smarter than you know."

Yang frowned in confusion, but Blake seemed to have worked things out. "Wait, so your mother gave you money? Enough for a house?" the faunus asked.

Weiss picked up the scroll and scanned the message once more. "It would appear so. She says great work, good job graduating, go be a Huntress and carry on the Schnee legacy blah blah blah, and then at the bottom she apparently transferred enough lien into my account to purchase a mid-scale house. Completely, as in fully paid off."

The faunus raised an eyebrow. "Wow. But how did she even get access to your account? I thought you severed ties with your family?"

Weiss glanced at her. "These are the Schnees we're talking about Blake. They could probably have Ozpin's bank account hacked if they wanted."

"Oh. Right."

The full realization of what Weiss' mother had done finally hit Ruby. "Aaaauauuugghhghg! Weiss! We have a house!"

"I know you-oof!"

Ruby tackled the former heiress, then picked her up and spun her around.

"P-Put me down you dolt!"

But she didn't, she only laughed and spun her more.

"I'm gonna get sick you idiot!"

She gave the smaller girl one last twirl, then set her down and wrapped her in a crushing hug. "Aaauaugh!"

"C-Calm down you fool. And let me go, you're hurting me."

"Oops, sorry!" She backed away, then unruffled the former heiress' blouse. "Sorry. But holy wow!"

Weiss stared her in the eye. "That's definitely an understatement. But I don't really... I don't know how to feel about this right now. I mean I'm happy for sure. But I still don't trust her. I don't know what her motives are. Is it wrong for me to not believe that she's doing this simply out of the goodness of her heart?"

Yang scoffed. "Knowing your crazy-ass family, being suspicious is the _right_ thing to do."

"Thanks you buffoon," Weiss replied. She crossed her arms and gazed up at the sky. "And don't go getting any crazy ideas about slacking off Ruby, we'll still have to work to pay for food and other bills, but we'll have... We'll have a nice, fully paid off house. Right off the bat. Just like that."

Ruby came at her from behind, gently circling her arms around the older girl's waist and pulling her close.

Yang eyed the two of them. "Yeah, well while you two lovebirds are having your private time, can I at least borrow your scroll so Blake can call a taxi?"

The faunus raised an eyebrow. "Why am _I_ calling the taxi?"

Yang grinned at her and pulled her into a one-armed embrace. "Because I'm way too drunk to talk to a driver coherently. Didn't you hear Weiss?"

"Don't use her casual derision as an excuse to indulge your lethargy," Blake replied.

"Ouch. Too many big words."

"That's the point," Blake chuckled. "Weiss, can I borrow your scroll?"

Weiss said nothing, but handed over her scroll. Yang and Blake stepped away towards the curb, and the former heiress sighed and leaned into the embrace.

"You still all worried about the future?" Ruby whispered. She swayed back and forth ever so slightly, swinging Weiss along to an invisible tune in her head. The smaller girl didn't say anything, so Ruby assumed she didn't mind. Or maybe she even enjoyed it. Weiss' feelings towards open physical contact were an endless mystery.

"Yes. We could still get hurt on a mission, or worse. But not as much. We don't have to worry about house-hunting, or trying to find an apartment, or rent, or a mortgage... I'm still worried, just not as much anymore."

"Well that's good. You look so pretty with your hair down, you know. Kinda off-topic but it was bugging me and I just wanted to say that, I mean not that you don't normally look pretty," she scrambled to explain, "I mean, I just think that your hair is so much prettier when I can see all of it and it's not all tied up."

Weiss twisted slightly, so she could lean up and give her a soft, gentle kiss. "Thanks."

She hummed in delight and gave Weiss a return kiss on the cheek. "Heh. My bad. I think you should call your mom and thank her or something."

"You know what?" the former heiress replied. "I think I will. After all, she did buy us a house."

* * *

"It's raining," Weiss deadpanned.

"Yeap," Ruby eloquently replied.

They were getting soaked standing outside of their recently purchased house. It was in a small neighborhood slightly to the north of Terser, which in turn was the farthest north city in the kingdom of Vale.

Terser was a relatively new city, but one that was booming from a recent increase in demand from the logging industry. The buildings were new and contemporary, but still maintained a rustic feel despite that. But because the city was so far north, it was under a more prominent threat from the Grimm than the rest of the country. Much of the territory surrounding it was wild and untamed, unexplored and uncharted. Logging jobs needed protection details, and the outlying towns and villages kept up a constant demand for well-trained Hunters and Huntresses.

In other words, it was the perfect place for two freshly graduated Huntresses looking for work.

A relatively remote locale, upscale but still cheap housing, a healthy respect for Hunters, this city had it all.

It also rained. A lot.

"So why are we standing outside?" Ruby asked.

"Because we just bought our first house. And I want to look at it. Memorize the details and such."

"Well... can't you memorize the details of the inside? Where it's not raining?"

Weiss was silent for a moment, but then she raised her head and looked up into the rain. Then she frowned. "...You're right. Let's go inside."

* * *

The interior was barren, as only a brand new – and as of yet unoccupied – house could be.

Weiss walked the hallways, sliding her hand along the relatively fresh plaster and soaking up the memories that she and Ruby hadn't created yet.

The house stood at the top of a hill that marked the western border of their neighborhood, and as such it was quiet and remote. The roof was pointed in the traditional 'v' shape, and was made of brown tile. The house itself was relatively spacious, had two stories, a nice open front porch, and a backyard that opened to an undeveloped forest that was – relatively – free of Grimm.

"I'm thinking we paint most of the walls red," Ruby remarked, appearing from an empty doorway. "Like a deep red, not some bright crimson or anything. Something muted and... I don't know, comfortable."

Weiss tapped her chin in thought. "You know normally I'd write that off as part of your unhealthy obsession with the color, but that's not actually a bad idea. I think that could work just fine."

Ruby smiled. "So we'll do it?"

"Sure. But I get to choose the color of the bedroom."

"Ooh, that's gonna be a tough one," the brunette replied with a smirk as she leaned against the doorframe. "Let me guess... white."

Weiss spun slowly and took in the bedroom again. "No, I was actually thinking a dull green. Like the hidden parts of a forest at twilight."

Ruby appeared puzzled. "That's sure specific. Any special reason for that? Not that I don't like the idea or anything."

"I just think it would look nice. And I like the atmosphere it would bring about. You have to think about the mood a color sets Ruby, not just the shade itself."

"So you want our bedroom to be relaxed and quiet or something?"

"Sure, let's go with that," she replied with a smirk. "Just not at night."

"Why would you not want it to be quiet at night? Wouldn't that be... _ooooo_h."

Weiss chuckled. "You're a dolt."

Ruby crossed the room and wrapped her in a close embrace. Her breath tickled her neck. "Yeah, but I'm your dolt."

"Whatever works for you," she replied, leaning into her taller girlfriend. "So you like this house? It's satisfactory?"

"Yeesh, I already told you I love it. It's perfect. Great location too, no shortage of hunts around here."

"I'm just checking. It's our first house, so I _want_ it to be perfect. We're not going to be able to get much furniture until we finish a few hunts, but we should be fine until then."

"Pfft," Ruby laughed, "all I need to sleep with you is a storage closet and some blankets. I think I'll be fine."

The recollection brought color to Weiss' cheeks, and she smiled as she replayed the fond memory. "What was it you said? I'll never let you go, or something along those lines?"

Normally she wouldn't be so open with her affections, but no one else was around, and the new house had her in an indulgent mood. So she indulged Ruby.

The brunette squeezed her closer. "I said: I won't leave you. Not now, not ever."

The words brought a smile to her face. "You know, I don't think I'm really worried anymore. Something tells me we'll be just fine."

"Mmm. I thought you'd hate me, you know."

"Hate you? What do you mean?"

"That's why I never told you how I felt, before you freaked out and kissed me or whatever that was. I never told you because I thought you'd hate me, and I didn't want to lose my best friend."

Weiss dropped her voice. "Well... You didn't lose her. She's right here, and there's nowhere else she'd rather be but in her brand new home, with her best friend."

Ruby pressed her face into the crook of her neck, and she could feel the younger girl's smile against her skin. "Yeah. I know. I'm so glad I finally get you all to myself."

"What do you mean? I was never with anyone else..."

"I mean, like, everyone always wanted a piece of Weiss Schnee, you know? Jaune and Neptune were always hitting on you, people were always trying to talk to you, other students were always coming to you for advice and stuff. Not gonna lie, I used to get pretty jealous."

"Used to?"

"Okay... yeah I still do. But now I finally have you all to myself, and it gives me this crazy warm feeling in my chest that just feels so great."

Weiss knew the feeling. It was warming her breast at that very moment. "Well it goes both ways you know. I get you to myself now too. Whether you like it or not."

The brunette grinned and leaned forward, then kissed her long and slow, drawing it out and making it somehow passionate and tender at the same time.

"Well I personally don't have any problem with that," Ruby whispered. "Now whaddya say we break in the bedroom?"

Her breathing quickened, picking up along with her heart rate. "But... there's not even a bed in there... it's just bare carpet."

Ruby smirked at her and raised an eyebrow. "And?"

* * *

"Um, excuse me sir, is this where the job postings are?"

The Sheriff of Brenton's Village – aptly named after it's founder – raised his eyes and stared at the two girls over his bushy white moustache.

"What kinda jobs?" he slurred.

"Uh... Grimm jobs?" Ruby asked. "Like-"

"She means hunts," Weiss interrupted. "We heard this was the place to go to see if you had any hunts open for contract."

The Sheriff set down his newspaper and leaned forward, staring at them over the desk of his small office in the Town Hall. "We might. But that depends on what quality of Huntresses' you be. We've had lotsa folks gettin' themselves killed lately you see, and that's just bad business for everyone."

Weiss stared him dead in the eye, drawing herself up to her full height and attempting to channel her inner Schnee. "I assure you that we are Huntresses of the finest caliber. We're graduates of Beacon Academy."

"Beacon huh? When'd you graduate?"

"...Two weeks ago." She hoped honesty would resonate with the man.

He stroked his bushy mustache and raised an equally bushy eyebrow, giving them a good second look. They were wearing their usual combat attire, but they both wore deep green cloaks over it, ones that would do a much better job of concealing them in a forest than their usual ensembles of red and white would. Weiss had originally objected, saying that it was disreputable to hide oneself from one's enemies, but Ruby had argued the seriousness and danger of their first real job, and that point had won out over the former heiress' prideful nature. The brunette had even left her own red cloak at their house.

"You two girls are partners then?"

"Yes sir," Ruby answered. "We graduated top of our class too."

"Doesn't mean nothin' special round here. All I see is two green Huntresses with no real experience out there. This town don't have as much money as it is. And most of you want half up front and half after. So you go out and get yourselves killed, and all we do is lose money. See the problem here misses?"

"We'll take the full payment after the job is complete then," Weiss said. "Does that solve your problem?"

The old Sheriff leaned back in his chair. "It might. If you're okay with the risks and all that, know you might die out there, know that we take no responsibility, all that good stuff."

"That's perfectly acceptable," she replied. "But you still haven't told us what the job is yet."

He was silent for a moment, then nodded as if to himself. "Got a den of wolves up bout' two miles to the north-west, been preying on folks living around there."

"Wolves?" she questioned. "We're not regular hunters. We hunt Grimm."

"Well obviously I mean beowolves," he replied. "If it wasn't obvious you were green before, it is now. No one actually calls them beowolves anywhere outside of a classroom."

She crossed her arms and tried to hold back a frown. She knew it would be unwise to start an argument with her first potential employer. "Fine, so we'll scout the area, find the den, clear it out, and report back. Does that sum up the job?"

"Just about," he replied. "But also, just so you can't say I didn't warn you, some folks been sayin' they saw a bear up in that area too."

Ruby spoke up, sounding as confused as she looked. "A real bear, or a-"

"No, not a real bear you greenhorn, an ursa. I wouldn't bother tellin' you bout' no black bear or somethin'."

Weiss sighed and rubbed her temple. "Right. So get in, find the nest, clear it out, watch out for ursa."

He leaned forward in his chair. "Yeap. And if you don't get the job done, don't bother comin' back."

"Alright. Good. Now, about our payment..."

* * *

Weiss shoved her way out the front door of the Town Hall, dragging her girlfriend and partner behind her. "Five hundred? Ruby, what are we going to do with five hundred lien?!"

"Well he looked all mad when you suggested a thousand! That's how bargaining works right, you just lower the price?"

She channeled all of her frustration and disbelief at Ruby's scatter-brained nature into one single facial expression, then brought it to bear on the taller girl. Though it could be said that it lost some of it's effect with the height difference.

"The _seller_ drops the price you idiot, not the buyer!"

"Yeesh Weiss, don't yell at me. I'm sorry, I was just trying to help."

The former heiress stopped short, another cutting retort frozen on the tip of her tongue. "I... I'm sorry. I shouldn't be yelling at you. Augh! I'm just nervous. This is our first real job, and I want it to go well," she trailed off. "We have to make a good impression, so that more people will hire us for hunts in the future. A first impression is everything Ruby."

The brunette closed the distance between them and pulled her into a loose embrace. "Are you sure about that? Think about how we first met."

Clumsy Ruby. Scattered suitcases. Spilled dust. Sneezes. Explosions. Definitely not the best first impression she'd ever had.

"I suppose... I suppose you're right about that. But appearance is reality Ruby, in most people's case. They don't ever take the time to get to know you and learn about you, when it's so much easier to just judge you and write you off. This is a harsh world, and we're going to have to stay competitive to get good jobs. I just don't want us to screw this up."

The taller girl placed her lips by her ear, so that she was almost whispering to her. "Relax. It's gonna be fine. We're not gonna screw this up, and we're both gonna go home just fine. Cuz we have a home now, remember? So we have to make it back."

She took a long breath of the cool mountain air, savoring the scent of pine and the sound of chirping birds. "You're right. We'll be fine. Thank you Ruby."

The brunette gave her one last squeeze, then released her. "Don't mention it. I bet there aren't even any ursa out there anyway. This hunt is gonna be a cake walk."

* * *

"I bet there aren't even any ursa out there anyway," Weiss mocked in her best Ruby impression. She slid her blade out of the neck of a freshly killed, fully grown ursa, frowned, and then tried her best to clean it on the boughs of a nearby pine tree. "This hunt is gonna be a cake walk!"

Ruby was embarrassed, judging by her red cheeks and the way she scratched the back of her neck. "Well I mean, I was just saying that. I had no real way of knowing there was gonna be three of them hanging around the Beowolf den." Suddenly she brightened up, smiling and jumping on her toes. "But hey, look at this way! Our first hunt was way more difficult than we thought it would be, and we still survived with no problem!"

"The fact that we didn't see those ursa in the first place is a little worrying. I have to wonder why they were near that den in the first place, without the beowolves doing anything to fight them off. Normally beowolves don't like ursa anywhere near their territory. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were working together to ambush anyone that tried to take out the den."

"They're Grimm Weiss, not trained mercs or anything. I doubt they can think that far ahead. It's probably nothing. Besides, we made it out just fine."

"Well next time warn me when you're going to going... harness the wind or whatever you did back there."

"Oh that? It's not much, I just used it to hurl those two ursa back when they ganged up on you. I know your fighting style isn't that great against multiple enemies. Especially if those enemies are huge bears."

Weiss was tempted to just leave things at that, but at the same time she wanted to know more. Ruby had been working on controlling the wind lately, but as far as she knew the younger girl had had trouble moving anything larger than a human. Huge bears were certainly out of the question. "When did you even learn to do that? I thought your semblance was just speed anyway?"

Ruby smirked, but managed to look embarrassed at the same time. "I've been practicing lately. And without getting too technical or anything, my semblance is just an electromagnetic field that I create around myself, and I just use it accelerate the air around me. I'm kinda like a human rail-gun, just I'm the bullet." She grinned. "So anyway, I got to thinking one day, if I can create an electromagnetic field around myself, what if I could do it around other things too? It took me a long time, but eventually I learned how to create fields around other things and not just my own body. So what I did back there was just create a particle acceleration field of negatively charged static particles around the blade of Crescent Rose, so that when I swung it it displaced the air so fast that it threw those ursa back. The air is a lot more fluid and dynamic than you'd think."

Weiss found herself almost at a loss for words. Sometimes she forgot how well Ruby hid her extraordinary intelligence beneath her external clumsiness and social ineptitude. But times like these, she was reminded, and it only deepened her admiration for the younger girl.

But of course she would never admit that openly. "Well you also flung me too, you dolt. So just warn me before you do something like that, okay?"

Ruby held her hands behind her back and kicked at the dirt. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I should have told you. My bad."

Weiss frowned; her intention hadn't been to make Ruby feel bad. "Don't be sorry, just warn me next time. You did great, you reacted appropriately to an unexpected threat, and maybe even saved my life. I doubt I would have been able to take both those ursa at once, I had already used most of my aura on the beowolves. So if anything, I should be thanking you. So... thank you Ruby."

The taller girl brightened up immediately, and her eyes sparkled with glee. "You're welcome. It wasn't anything special."

Looking at her girlfriend so happy and adorable, Weiss wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around her in a tight hug and hold on to her forever. But unfortunately, they were still in uncharted, Grimm controlled territory, so she held herself back. She vowed to make it up to Ruby though, as soon as they were safe and alone.

"It's always something special with you Ruby," she grumbled, low enough that the younger girl didn't hear her. She was busy inspecting the corpses of the ursa anyway, with that quizzical expression she always wore when she was interested in something.

The former heiress slid Myrtenaster back into it's custom-made sheath. She frowned and looked around, taking in the shadowed forest in the light of setting sun. The dying light made strange shapes out of the trees, filtering through the canopy in a way that was somehow eery and disconcerting.

"We should get back," she muttered. "Before it gets dark and more Grimm show up to find out what the commotion was."

Ruby nodded her agreement and slung Crescent Rose over her back. "Hey guess what? We've got a home to go back to now. That still seems weird, huh?"

_Home_. She had a home now, a real home, one that carried with it all the weight that the word implied. She had a life, one that was entirely her choice and fully under her control. It filled her with a deep sense of satisfaction, one that was more real than anything had ever been during her old life as a Schnee.

"I love you Ruby."

"Whu- what?"

"Nothing. Just... let's get back to the town. That old sheriff owes us five hundred lien. And then we can go home."

Ruby flashed in front of her with her semblance, leaving a trail of sweet-smelling petals hanging in the air, leaned forward, and kissed her. Her lips were soft and smelled like roses. "I love you too Weiss."

She blushed and hid her face, so that Ruby wouldn't see the grudging smile on it. "D-Dolt."

The brunette only giggled in reply. The fading light danced across her face and her silvery eyes, and Weiss was almost overwhelmingly glad that she had found someone as beautiful and caring as Ruby. In a way, the younger girl had saved her life. Well, maybe not so much saved it as gave her a new one, but the effect – and the grateful feeling that came with it – was the same.

She remembered a scene much like this, four years ago in another forest. She remembered the moment she and the girl in front her had locked eyes, and remembered with no small amount of shame the disdain and scorn she had felt as she turned and walked away.

But something had made her turn back; something had made her return to Ruby, and it wasn't just that the other immediate option had been Jaune.

Even back then, something about the younger girl had... drawn her.

_"By no means does this make us friends."_

_"You came back!"_

"This makes us more than friends," she caught herself whispering.

"What was that Weiss?"

"Nothing, just old memories."

Ruby grinned at her, but then her face fell in apparent concern. "Ah. Oh. Bad ones?"

She smiled, and Ruby's smile returned as well. "No you dunce. Good ones. Now let's go home."

* * *

"Three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, it's all here," Ruby confirmed. They stepped out of Brenton's Village's town hall into the frosty night air, and she watched the younger girl pull her green cloak tighter over her shoulders.

She did the same with hers. "It had better be. For all the trouble with those ursa, he should be paying us extra," she grumbled.

"Oh c'mon Weiss, he said the town doesn't have that much money as it is. I would feel pretty bad taking extra."

"It's not like we're extorting them or anything. Just extra compensation for extra services."

A strange, lilted, and decidedly female voice spoke up from behind her. "Who is getting extorted?"

She whirled around in surprise and found a strange faunus girl in front of her. She was tall and had long black hair, as well as purple-black feathers lining her forearms and sprouting out from behind her ears. Her head was cocked sideways as if in apparent confusion.

"Jaerla!" Ruby greeted. "What are you doing here? Are you looking for a hunt?"

"No Ruby Rose," the faunus replied, "I have actually just finished one recently. But that was in a village to the west, I'm actually here to feel these forests for myself. They are all different, yes? Each sings with a different tone and voice, and you must listen to them."

Weiss backed away slowly, so that she was beside Ruby. This woman was strange, even for a faunus. "The forests... sing?"

"Yes they do, Weiss Schnee, partner of Ruby Rose. You need only train yourself to listen, and the old world will open itself to you."

She raised an eyebrow. "The old world?"

"That is what I said, yes. Even to those unaware of the elder world, bits and pieces of it are still recognizable." She pointed at Ruby. "Like the cross on Ruby's belt."

"My cross?" the brunette questioned. She held it up, and the firelight of the town hall reflected from it's dull metal. "Are you finally gonna tell me what it is now? Last time we talked about it, you just told me not to concern myself with it. Something about a dead god or something."

Jaerla cocked her head and stared at it, as if she was studying it intensely. "It is best you not know Ruby Rose. It would only complicate things."

"Oh come on," Ruby groaned, "you owe me an explanation!"

"And why do I owe you that?" the faunus questioned.

"Because of our final test? I made sure we all passed, didn't I?"

The faunus frowned, and it made her narrow face look ever more like that of a raven's. After a few moments of silence, she spoke. "I suppose you are right. I do owe you for that. I will tell you what I know of your cross, yes? Am I to understand you took it to a metallurgist?"

Ruby sounded puzzled. "A what?"

Weiss nudged her girlfriend in the side. "A person whose job it is to study metals and shape them you dolt. We went to one a few months back, remember?"

The brunette's face lit up. "O_oooo_h, right! Yeah, we took it to him but he said there was nothing special about it. It got really hot one time in my backpack, like burning hot. So that's why it was weird. That he said it wasn't special, I mean. Cuz normally if something is hot enough to burn your hand, it's special. Or something."

The faunus blinked rapidly. "It was hot? Burning? Where did this thing happen?"

"Uh... at this clearing where my mother died." Ruby smiled, but Weiss could tell that she was smiling through the pain. She took her partner's hand and gave it a quick squeeze, and Ruby's smile suddenly looked a bit more genuine.

"Your mother..." Jaerla questioned. "Was she peculiar in any way? Did she have any practices that seemed strange, or out of sorts?"

"Um, I don't _think_ so."

"And when she died, were you alone? What happened to you?"

"We were walking through the woods, going somewhere. I don't really remember where, but I'm not sure if she ever told me. Anyway we got attacked by Grimm, a _lot_ of Grimm. I still haven't seen that many in one place."

The faunus hummed, a strange sound almost like a bird's call. Weiss was beginning to find it eery, just how much this girl resembled an avian.

"Well, I will tell you what I am sure of," Jaerla responded. "That cross is the symbol worn by a church, a dead religion that worshiped a dead god. And when I say dead, I do not necessarily mean he is dead. No one knows what happened to the gods. He may truly be dead, but what I mean is that he is the god of death. His name was Zherden."

"Zurden..." Ruby muttered back.

The name felt strangely familiar, like a stranger you're sure you've seen before, but you can't remember anything about them. Like a memory deeply buried that she couldn't recall. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"But he is most likely long dead. As is his church, and his followers. Although I am not quite sure anymore. Your mother may well have been one of them Ruby."

Ruby barked out a laugh. "M-My mother? Worshiping a dead god? What?"

The faunus cocked her head to the side. "Stranger things have happened. But this is speculation, and part of the reason I did not necessarily want to tell you. You should be focusing on making your way in this world, not on old stories of deceased deities. Leave the wondering to my tribes, the Eluvǐtae. Things are better for all that way, yes?"

"Sure..." Ruby agreed, but she sounded hesitant. "Uh, anyway Jaerla, it was nice meeting you here. Your own hunt went well?"

"It was a success, yes. But it was not for money. It was only to test the things I learned at Beacon in the world of the corporeal. Not a... how would you say it, not a training environment?"

Ruby smirked. "Something like that, yeah."

Jaerla smiled in return. "That is well then. I will be returning to the Eluvǐtae, now that I know my skills and knowledge are genuine, so I can pass them on."

Weiss couldn't help but be curious. "Where exactly are your people Jaerla, if you don't mind me asking."

The faunus turned to her. "It is no matter, Weiss Schnee. My people live far to the east of here, in the lands of Mistral, but outside the borders of their kingdom. You could say we are... wanderers. But we are not lawless, far from it. We simply do not wish to be confined by city walls and governments."

"That's... certainly interesting," she responded.

"Just as much as your society is to me, I assure you. Now I must depart. My journey will be long, and I wish to complete it as soon as possible." The faunus frowned. "Quite frankly, I dislike walking for long periods of time."

Ruby laughed. "Heh, alright then. Well uh, take care of yourself Jaerla. Don't let any Grimm eat you or anything."

"I am sure I will be fine Ruby Rose, your Beacon has taught me much in the past years. If anyone should be careful though, it should be you."

Weiss frowned and crossed her arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Simply a warning Weiss Schnee. There are stirrings. A shadow grows, and as of yet my people cannot see what it is or what lies behind it. Times are changing, and a new era, as my people mark them, will begin soon. And there is this strange feeling in my breast that tells me it will not be one of peace and prosperity." The faunus shook her head. "But dismiss my ramblings. I am weary of Vale, and I most likely see dark things in the shadows where there are none. But even still... be careful Ruby Rose, and Weiss Schnee. Mark well the words of my people, even if you mark not my own. Something is coming. It would do you well to be prepared."

"Uh... sure," Ruby replied. "You too. It was um, great seeing you!"

"And you as well. Now I must depart this place. Ego vobis valedico. That is how my people say goodbye."

"Farewell to you too," Weiss said, bowing her head slightly.

The faunus smiled, then turned and strode off into the woods in a seemingly random direction.

"Well that was... weird," Ruby muttered.

"I'll say," she agreed. "You worked with her before?"

Ruby let go of her hand but took her by the arm, and they started the long walk from Brenton's Village to Terser. The sounds of the night filtered through the trees: crickets, frogs, other animals. Along with the sounds of their footfalls on the hard-packed dirt, it made for a peaceful walk. "A couple times, yeah. My final hunt at Beacon was with her."

"She's very odd," Weiss deadpanned.

"Yeah, she gets that a lot. She's so like a raven it's scary. Some faunus are like that. Did you know Blake's tail twitches when she's angry?!"

"She actually let her tail out around someone other than Yang?" Weiss asked.

"Well, it wasn't on purpose. Kinda why she was angry," Ruby admitted.

"Ah. That makes more sense," the older girl chuckled. "This is going to be a long walk. We'll be lucky if we make it back by eleven."

"Yeah, but we have a home to go back to! How cool is that?"

"Very. It's very cool Ruby."

The walk was long, but the road was well-lit and protected by regular patrols of Huntresses and Hunters, so they both relaxed their guard for a while. The stars and the moon shone overhead, giving the surrounding forests a silvery color, and an ethereal, almost heavenly quality.

They walked arm-in-arm, and Ruby babbled on and on about weapon modifications and other things of the sort. Weiss found herself content to simply lean her head against the brunette's shoulder as they walked, content to smile and let her erratic girlfriend talk about whatever she wanted to.

She was simply happy that she had someone whom she could lean against without fear or trepidation, and was happier still that it was Ruby, her first and best friend, partner, and girlfriend. She didn't think she would ever tire of the warmth in her chest, or the smile on her face that she wore only for Ruby.

She was simply happy.

* * *

_**The lyrics at the beginning are from "Shatter Me" by Lindsey Sterling and Lizzy Hale. So what did you think?**_


	17. Epilogue - Heartbeats

Aaron Brenton walked into a tavern called the _Boar's Head_, humming softly to himself as he felt warmth flow into his tired muscles. He hung his snow-caked coat on a hook by the door, then wiped his boots on the welcome mat before stepping inside. The sitting room was bright and warm largely because of a healthy fire burning in the hearth, but also due to a familiar and well-tempered crowd filling the room with pleasant conversation.

He surveyed the patrons of the his oldest and favorite haunt and found old acquaintances, fresh but recognizable faces, familiar travelers that passed through from time to time and... someone new.

Sitting at the bar was a girl with shoulder-length chocolate brown hair, a cute but expressionless face, and very, very worn looking traveler's clothes. She was staring down into the depths of her drink, and he couldn't tell if she looked sad or just contemplative.

After a few seconds of staring, he decided to make a move. It wasn't often he saw a fresh face this far north of Mistral, and she was actually pretty attractive once you got past the mud-caked pants, empty eyes, and strange red contraption on her back. It looked like some type of rifle, but he couldn't be sure. He decided to exercise caution while speaking with her; now that he thought about it, she looked like someone with nothing to lose.

He slid on to the stool next to her and held up his finger to the bartender, who nodded and began preparing his drink of choice: a golden cinnamon whiskey with honey and sugar.

"Hey, haven't seen you around these parts before," he started. "You just get in?"

When she didn't say anything or even look up from her drink, he continued, albeit slightly more hesitantly. "So uh, my name's Aaron Brenton. I work the mines up here. What're you doing all the way up here?"

"Brenton?" she muttered, low enough that he almost didn't hear her. "Like Brenton's Village?"

He chuckled and scratched at his cheek. "Heh, my father's doing. He founded that place. Wanted me to stay and all but... I just didn't really feel like I fit in. I'll tell you all about it if you let me buy you another drink."

She sipped the one she was currently holding. "I'm fine, thanks."

The bartender set his drink in front of him, and he nodded his thanks and took a sip. It burned it's way down perfectly. "Alright, well I know I already asked, but what are you doing up here?"

"Hunting."

"Oh, you're a Huntress? So that thing on your back is your weapon?"

"Her name is Crescent Rose," she said, finally turning her head slightly to look at him. She gave him a quick up-and-down, then returned to staring into her drink. "And she's not just a weapon."

"Oh, sorry. I heard that some of you guys get pretty attached to your weapons, so I probably shoulda guessed. So you're up here for a hunt? I don't think we've had many problems with Grimm lately. Can't be too much work for you around here."

She frowned. "There's not."

"Oh... so why are you up here then?"

She took a long sip of her drink, then set it down and shrugged. "Wandering, I suppose."

He knew the feeling. And he thought he knew the look in her eyes. He took a risk. "Running from something... Or someone?"

She snapped her head around and met his eyes with an ice-cold glare. "Don't go asking about things you don't know anything about," she growled. "If I wanted to tell you, I would."

"I-I... sorry. I didn't know. Here, let me buy you another drink to make it up to you."

She glared at her drink for a split-second, then pushed it away. "Actually, I think I'm done." She stood, pushed in her stool, and started making quick strides towards the door.

Halfway there, she stopped. She didn't bother to turn around as she spoke. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. Have a good day Aaron."

"A-Alright," he got out. "Oh, uh, I never caught your name?"

She finally turned her head slightly and he thought he saw hints of red in her chocolate-brown hair, but hints that were long-faded and barely there.

"It's Ruby."

And then she opened the door and disappeared into the howling blizzard outside.

* * *

"Stupid... going to that bar was stupid..."

Ruby opened up the door of the hotel room she was staying in and stood there for a few moments, simply staring at the room.

The walls were barren and white, with spider-webbed cracks running up and down them. The ceiling was the same, and the carpet was dirty and stained. The only thing inside the room – besides a metal spring bed – was an old desk. It had an ancient television set on it, and as Ruby flopped onto the bed after removing her coat and setting Crescent Rose on the desk, she decided to turn it on. She needed a distraction. That man at the bar had unwittingly dragged up too many old, painful memories. Memories she was trying to forget.

It was why she was up here in Mistral, simply wandering from place to place, trying desperately to find something to fill the gaping hole in her. She was hoping to find a good hunt, one that could take her mind off of the world for a while. And maybe – if she was lucky – kill her.

But she knew she wouldn't get that lucky. She never did.

The only channel on the television that wasn't static was a local news station, and she sighed in resignation and tried to let the mindless drivel wash her mind clean.

"A local man was killed today in what appears to be another Grimm attack, which would make it the fourth this week. Witnesses report a-"

"No problems with Grimm my ass," she muttered.

Her eyes wandered over to the shape of Crescent Rose.

And the memories started to surface, like the weapon was the point of an iceberg, only the tip of a far greater and far deeper nightmare.

She should've gotten rid of it long ago, but she couldn't bring herself to abandon the weapon, couldn't bring herself to get rid of her oldest friend. It was the only part of her old life that she still carried around.

As she stared at it's battered red form, the memories started replaying again.

Her frown deepened as she remembered, just like she did every night, no matter what or how hard she tried. She remembered.

She remembered her old life at Beacon. She remembered training as a Huntress with her sister and her team at her side. She remembered Ozpin, and Cardin, and Jaune, and Blake, and Velvet, and... Weiss.

She remembered Weiss. The single biggest mistake she had ever made. Over the course of her training at Beacon she had unwittingly fallen in love with the beautiful, haughty older girl, and when her mind had screamed at her and told her it could never work, she had ignored it. When Weiss kissed her that night on the bench under the old oak tree she gave into her feelings, and for a time she was the happiest she had ever been in her entire life.

She had been so happy. Life had seemed a dream, one that she didn't ever want to wake from. No matter what happened or how bad it was, she always had Weiss, and Weiss had her. Being in love was terrible and beautiful, and even though they stumbled their way through the initial stages of their romance, they finally opened themselves up fully to eachother. Or at least, she had thought Weiss had.

She had always worried about Weiss' family. And when the critical moment came, her initial feelings of worry had proven true.

That moment was the worst, and also the clearest. The memory was sharp and painful like a knife, cutting deep into her every single night. She remembered Weiss turning to her with tears in her eyes as her father looked on, remembered the absolutely helpless and despairing tone the older girl had used as she told her to leave. As she told her that she was being pulled out of Beacon, and that they were breaking up.

Weiss had been forced to choose between Ruby, and her family, her legacy, her traditions. And Ruby had lost.

The next few years were a blur. She fell into a deep depression. Life hadn't been worth living. It still wasn't. Nothing could ever compare to the feelings she had for Weiss, the selfess and absolute love she still felt for the older girl.

It's why she was still running. She knew Weiss was still out there somehow, married, happily or not, it didn't make a difference. She wondered if the heiress ever thought about her, but she had long ago decided that she didn't want to know.

She didn't deserve to know. She couldn't figure out exactly what she had done wrong, but she knew it was her fault. She hadn't loved hard enough, she hadn't been caring and tender enough, she hadn't bought enough flowers or given her enough compliments. She had tried, oh how she had tried; she had loved with every bit of her heart and soul. But it hadn't been enough. All of it had been ripped apart when Weiss had refused to fight.

As she lay there on that old bed in that derelict old room, she realized in the back of her mind that this night was worse than most. Maybe the worst so far. Tears were slipping out of the corners of her eyes as usual – despite her best efforts to stop them – but this was far earlier than normal. Most nights it took a few hours of lying awake with her torturous memories for the tears to come, but this night... this night was worse.

She was dimly aware of the lady on the television blabbering on, but was immediately forced back into awareness when she heard the newswoman say _her_ name.

She scrambled onto her hands and knees, desperate to get a glimpse of the woman she still loved.

And there she was on the screen, giving a speech somewhere about some undoubtedly important topic. She couldn't care less what it was about; she only cared about the girl giving the speech.

She was absolutely stunning, drop-dead gorgeous in a slim white dress that made her look too beautiful for the mortal plane. Her white hair hung in curtains down her back, and Ruby's fingers tingled as she remembered how soft that hair felt, how it amazing it felt to hold it in her hands.

She moaned involuntarily and stretched her hand out towards the image on screen, desperate to get closer, and yet somehow run away at the same time. She felt like an animal, reduced to her basest instincts and desires. Cold despair dripped down her spine and ran through her veins like ice water, and a hundred knives stabbed her heart in unison as she watched Weiss walk away from the stage and into the waiting arms of a man.

Caught between rage and tears, she broke out into fresh sobs and threw the remote at the television. It missed completely and shattered against the wall.

She curled in on herself and tried to make the pain stop, the make the emotions go away, but she knew they wouldn't. The cycle was always the same. She knew it better than she knew her own mind by now. This was obviously much, much worse than usual, but the cycle was_ always_ the same. Cold indifference led to bitter apathy, which gave way to biting sadness, and then finally devolved into unceasing despair. And then, burning anger.

She felt her blood start to boil as the familiar cycle reached it's end point, and she stood up and screamed at the television. "Why did you leave me!? Why?! I gave you everything! I gave you everything you could have ever asked for, I gave you my heart and my soul and my body and you didn't fucking care! You didn't ever give a single shit did you!? Did you!"

She got up and began pacing the room in tight circles, wiping her tears as they came and waving her arms around like a madwoman. "You know what, I don't give a shit! I don't care if you care, if you ever cared! I don't want to fucking know! You can go fuck yourself for all I care, I never loved you!"

She screamed at the television, at Weiss' image, thrust her face inches from it and bared her soul. "I never loved you!" She roared and swung her fist, and then there was nothing but sharp agony.

She withdrew her fist in shock, staring at it like it was a strange object she had never seen before. Shards of black glass from the television were embedded in her knuckles, and hot blood was running down her hand and onto the floor.

She collapsed back onto the bed and stared at her hand. The bitter rage and anger was all gone, replaced with a strange calm that filled her with terrifying apathy. She didn't care about her hand, she realized. She hadn't cared about anything in a long, long time.

She raised her head to the ceiling. "I don't care about you anymore... I never cared about you. You ran away from me just like all the others, you were just as cheap and fake as they were. You sold me out to save yourself. You wouldn't care if I died. No one would. No one would give a single fuck I died tonight."

And as if it was somehow calling her, her eyes wandered over to the battered form of Crescent Rose again.

"No one would care if I died tonight..." she muttered again. Yang probably would, but it was much easier to lie to herself and avoid her sister, as she had been for the past few years. Same with Blake. It was much easier to tell yourself that people didn't care than it was to face the fact that they still loved you, and would be deeply hurt by your death.

Slowly, ever so slowly, she ambled over to Crescent Rose and picked it up with her good hand.

"It would be so easy," she mumbled, "so simple. One round. One piece of metal. It would all be over..."

She sat back down on the bed then racked the bolt back. The clunk of the round slotting into the firing chamber was familiar and somehow comforting.

"At least you care," she said to Crescent Rose. "So maybe it's fitting that you're the one to finally end this. Someone'll pick you up and sell you, and who knows, maybe you'll even kill another Grimm someday."

She ran her fingers over the battered, rusty metal. "Someday..."

Her mind set, she propped the rifle up on the floor and pointed the barrel at the ceiling. She leaned forward, placed her mouth over the barrel.

"It won't hurt anymore," she mumbled.

She reached down and pulled the trigger.

* * *

And woke screaming.

As she was jarred back into the waking world, her hands tangled in the sheets of her bed as she sat up, panting and glancing wildly around the room. It still felt like knives were being forced into her heart, and she clutched at it as she tried to gather her senses.

She looked to her right and found Weiss sitting up in the bed as well with a look of concern. The older girl seemed hesitant, but she lifted a hand and placed it on her shoulder. The fabric of Weiss' nightgown was cool and smooth against her skin, and it helped to ground her.

"Are you all right?" she muttered.

"I'm... I'm fine," Ruby forced out. "I'm fine."

"Another one?" Weiss asked. "What happened this time? Did I die again?"

"No you..." Ruby moved her hands to her face to wipe away the tears she felt, only to find that there weren't any. "It was weird. I actually dreamed part of it through some random guy's perspective. That's never happened before."

Weiss frowned and gently pulled her back down onto the bed, then shifted her so that they were on their sides facing eachother. The older girl started to rub slow, smooth circles onto her back, and she sighed as she immediately felt calmer and safer.

"You abandoned me," she started with a low whisper. "When we went to White Castle you broke up with me and made me leave, and I never saw you again. Then I went to Mistral or something, wandered around, and then eventually killed myself with Crescent Rose. I've never felt that sad and alone before, and it felt so real..."

"Well it's not real," Weiss whispered back. "I'm right here and I'm not going to leave you."

Ruby lowered her head and let out a long breath before speaking again. "I know, I just, they feel so... I keep having these stupid dreams, or nightmares or whatever you want to call them, and I don't even know why! I just wish they would stop."

"Then stay awake with me," Weiss replied. "We can watch a movie if you'd like, or I could read you a book or bake you some cookies..."

Ruby chuckled, starting to regain some of her usual upbeat attitude. "I don't think sugar this late is such a good idea." She leaned forward and left a quick kiss on the former heiress' lips. "But thanks for the offer."

Weiss smiled, and it made Ruby feel like everything was right with the world again. "You're welcome. I'll make you cookies tomorrow anyway. We don't have much going on tomorrow."

Ruby giggled and pulled Weiss closer, so that the smaller girl's head was resting on her chest. "I love you Weiss."

"Mmm, I love you too Ruby. Now go back to sleep."

Silence filled the room after that, and Ruby simply enjoyed the warmth of her girlfriend's body, and the wonderful feeling of being so close and intimate with her. Her mind was calm and her heart was full.

"Hey Weiss?"

"Yes dolt?"

"Will you sing for me?"

"I... sure. I'll sing for you."

Ruby smiled. "Thanks. It's pretty much the most beautiful sound ever. If this is what it takes for me to hear it though, I need to start having nightmares more often, even if they do feel real."

Weiss sighed. "Ruby, do you know why I know this is real, that you're real?"

"Hmm? Why?"

"Because I can feel your heartbeat."

_Bump-bump._

"Hey, that's my line!" Ruby giggled.

And then Weiss started to sing to her.

* * *

_**And thus we come to the end of this tale. I've told the story I wanted to tell, and it even ended up much longer than I had originally planned. I also had no idea that this many people would like it so much, and I still find myself surprised by it. I'm just trying to bring Ruby and Weiss to life, to give them the love story they should have. **_

_**If you're looking for a sequel, there's already one out and completed. You'll find it on my profile, titled Bloodbirds. **_

_**The next story I'm writing is the sequel to that story; a sequel to Bloodbirds. **_

_**It's titled Call of the Void, and it's the tale of how a now one-armed Ruby and her team track down and defeat the immortal Grimm Lord, and subsequently become the immortal beings they are in The White Nebula, another story I've already written. And don't worry about lack of fluff, it'll still be primarily Whiterose-centric. It will also have much more action and open combat than this story. This story focused on the establishment romance, while Call of the Void will deal with how that romance survives the horrors of conventional warfare with the Grimm.**_

_**In case the timeline for my stories is confusing, it goes like this: **_

_**Can you Feel My Heart - Melted Ice - Bloodbirds - Call of the Void (which I will start writing soon) - The White Nebula**_

_**For those of you who'd like to read Call of the Void when it comes out, I'll take this chapter down and re-upload it so that it refreshes on everyone's follow list, so that way you can go to my profile and find the prologue for Call of the Void and follow it.**_

_**I had an amazing time writing this, and a great time talking with you all about your thoughts and feelings on it and RWBY as a whole. So if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask for a favor. **_

_**If you would, please write a review on what you thought of the story as a whole, from beginning to end. Style, pacing, characterization, character development, my thoughts on certain issues, whatever you want to talk about, I'll enjoy it. **_

_**Thank you all for reading, and I'm glad you all enjoyed it so much. I've had many people tell me it's their favorite story, and that makes me happier than you know.**_

_**Until next time.**_

_**EDIT: If you're wondering why this was taken down and re-uploaded, it's to let everyone who wants to follow Call of the Void know that the story is up. Hope you enjoy!**_


	18. Outtake 1 - Home

_**A/N: These outtakes are going to be little short stories, scenes I wanted to put in the story but found they didn't really fit. But I honestly love this story too much to let it go just yet, so expect some more of these in the future. If you have a scene from the main story that you wanted to see but that never really appeared as well, feel free to suggest it.** _

_**This one takes place during the end of the story. Ruby and Weiss have purchased their house and moved to Terser upon graduating, but now they need furniture.** _

* * *

"Ruby..." Weiss started, staring out over the barren wasteland that was their living room, kitchen, and foyer.

Ruby looked up from the map of Terser she had been studying. The way she saw it, now that this was their home turf they should be familiar with it. "Yeah Weiss?"

"We need furniture."

Ruby looked out over the desolate expanse that was their recently purchased – but unfurnished – house. Nothing but white walls and bare carpet. "Oh. Ye_aaaahhh_. We should probably do that. We don't a couch or anything for me to flop onto when I get home."

Weiss made an incredulous expression. "We haven't even started working yet you dolt. And besides, I just don't want to have a repeat of last night."

"What, you still have rugburn?" Ruby laughed.

"Only because you insisted we make love on the bare carpet!"

Ruby giggled and wrapped her arms around the heiress. "And that's only because we don't have any furniture."

"Then let's go get furniture!" Weiss exclaimed. At the same time, she wrapped her own arms around Ruby's waist.

"Fine!" Ruby laughed.

"Fine," Weiss growled. "But first we have to find out if there are actually any furniture shops in Terser yet. This city is still relatively new."

"Oh pfft," Ruby replied. "I'm sure they have a furniture store. I mean they're already starting those big buildings in the downtown area, and they've got to get their supplies from somewhere."

Weiss buried her face in Ruby's chest, enjoying the warmth that she never tired of. Her voice was muffled when she replied. "They order their furnishings from big companies online you dunce. Also, we're not furnishing an entire six-story office building. We're just furnishing a single house."

"Yeah, but it's _our_ house," Ruby said. "Just you and me, together forever."

They were silent for a few more minutes, simply swaying back and forth in eachother's arms. Then Weiss whispered: "One can only hope."

* * *

Weiss and Ruby strode into the inexplicably named _Rikea_ furniture store. It was huge, and even bigger on the inside than it had appeared on the outside. It was the brand new location for some Mistralian company that was expanding as fast as they could, and even though the instruction manuals for their furniture assembly were infamously indecipherable, their prices and selection just couldn't be beat. And now that she didn't have access to her family's fortune, Weiss found herself trying to save money at every opportunity.

She looked around, analyzed the layout of the building, checked for suspicious persons, and found the section she wanted to visit first all in the space of a couple seconds.

And then Ruby ran past her with a giggle and flopped down onto one of the display beds at the front of the store.

"Ruby!" Weiss power-walked over to her and pulled her up. "These are for display, not for sleeping on! Look, you messed up the pillows!"

Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and grinned. "Heh, sorry Weiss. I'll fix it."

"You're still like a child sometimes," Weiss muttered.

"Eh, you gotta have some fun every once in a while. I mean I doubt they're gonna mind as long as I fix it."

The brunette did so, carefully rearranging the pillows into the way they had previously been. Weiss shook her head, grabbed Ruby's hand, and pulled her towards the section with furnishings for the living room. The store was decently populated, but still not crowded in any sense of the word. All the same though, Weiss found that people were still parting for her commanding presence. Even though she wasn't a Schnee anymore, she demanded a sort of subconscious respect from people with her posture and her stride. She found it strange.

"Alright, I figured we'd start with a couch," Weiss said once they'd arrived at the couch section.

She looked around. There were over fifty different couches on display, all different colors and styles and materials arranged in neat, orderly rows. Ruby tapped her chin in thought, looking decidedly adorable as she did so.

"Hmm. Weiss, we need to make a deal."

The former heiress raised an eyebrow. "What kind of deal?"

Ruby turned to face her with her hands held out as if to pacify her. "Okay, look I know you love white and everything, but-"

"I was not going to get a white couch!" Weiss interjected.

"You were looking at them!"

"I was not!"

Ruby waved her hands in front of her. "Fine fine, you weren't looking at the white couches. But seriously white looks weird on a couch. And then it gets all stained and everything cuz you spill stuff on it and it's impossible to get out. So can we get like, I dunno, a brown one or something?"

"You just don't want to have to clean the couch every time you spill junk food on it," Weiss grumbled.

"Pfft! No I... well, I mean kinda. But white is kind of a weird color for a couch."

Ruby took a step closer to her and looked down at her. Her eyes shone with a hidden sadness and the corners of her mouth turned down. "Please Weiss?"

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut, but Ruby's puppy dog expression followed her into her imagination. She drew a hissing breath through her teeth, knowing that she had already lost. "Fine."

"Yay!" Ruby squealed and pulled her into a tight hug. Before Weiss could return it the brunette had let go and was already off racing through the couches.

"Ooh Weiss, what about this one! It has built in cupholders!"

"That's incredibly tacky, no."

"Ooh but this one! Every part of it has built in recliner seats!"

"Are you _trying_ to get fat and lazy? No!"

"Holy crap look at this one! It's got a slot for the remotes so you can't lose them, and this part of the couch is like a massage chair!"

"Do I even have to give you reasons against that? No!"

Couch consideration continued much like that for almost ten more minutes, before Ruby finally found one that Weiss found herself actually considering as well.

"Look Weiss, it's brown leather. It's cold and cool at first, but it warms up as you sit on it so that it'll be great for winter and summer!"

"I suppose so... and the material is a very good quality for a price this cheap... but it's a three-person couch Ruby. We only need two."

Ruby laughed at her. "Weiss, seriously? Do you really think I'd be fine on a two person couch?"

Weiss looked at Ruby, at her long legs and limber frame. "You're right. You'd never be comfortable on a couch that small. Come to think of it, we'll probably need a king-size bed for those legs of yours."

"Exactly," Ruby agreed with a bright smile. "And like, what if I wanted to lay down with my head in your lap or something? I don't want my feet to have to hang over the edge. This one is pretty much perfect for us. Leather cleans easily too. At least I think."

Weiss frowned and looked down at the couch. "You actually need special cleaning supplies for leather, otherwise it'll stain. But once you have those you're right, it is relatively easy. Nothing as hard as trying to remove wine stains from felt or something."

Ruby looked at her with an excited smile. "So this is the one? Can we get it?"

"You don't have to ask me for permission Ruby," Weiss muttered. "We're in this together, remember? For this to work, we both have to have an equal say in decisions. Partners, remember?"

"Yeah, I just like to let you handle all the boring stuff like this cuz I know you like organizing and all that. I gotta spoil my princess somehow."

Weiss blushed and looked down at the couch. The princess comment had completely won her over. "Yes Ruby, we'll get this one."

"Yes! But uh, what do we do now? Do we have to... carry it or something?"

Weiss found herself chuckling at Ruby's naivety. "No Ruby, we just make a note of the couch number, then once we have a list of everything we want we bring it to the cashier up front. They ring it all up, and then within a week they'll have a truck sent over with all the boxes and such."

"Ooh, that's a whole lot easier than what I was imagining," Ruby laughed.

"I'm sure," Weiss agreed. She slipped her hand into Ruby's. "Now let's go, the living room furnishing section is right there, and I don't especially want to spend the entire day here."

Ruby let Weiss lead her by the hand. "Eh, I don't really mind Weiss. I'm fine as long as I'm spending time with you."

Weiss lowered her head and smiled. The way Ruby said it, she knew it was true.

* * *

Almost four hours later they were nearly done. They had gotten dishes and silverware for the kitchen, desks and bookshelves for various places around the house, file cabinets for the office, a small dinner table with matching chairs, even rocking chairs for the front porch.

The only thing left was the bed. Which of course, they couldn't decide upon.

"Weiss, but you already agreed no white!"

"That was with the couch you dunce! We never said anything about the bed!"

Weiss' harsh tone made Ruby stop. She took a second to look into her partner's eyes. She didn't really like arguing with Weiss. She remembered telling the older girl what love meant to her once, that day back in White Castle when everything had been so scary and uncertain. She had said that it meant putting someone else before yourself, valuing their wants and needs above your own. So she smiled and did just that.

"You know what Weiss? I like the idea of the white too. So pick whatever you want. I promise I'll like it too."

Weiss' expression immediately softened; the determination and conflict was gone. "You're sure?"

"Yeap. But uh, can we get some red sheets and pillows too?"

Weiss smiled back at her. "Fine. Of course we can."

* * *

Five days later everything was set up. The furniture was assembled and in place, albeit after much initial confusion and perplexment as to how exactly they were supposed to take a bunch of boards and posts and somehow create a table out of them.

But it was all done now, and Ruby and Weiss lay together on their new bed. The sheets were white. The pillows were red.

They had laid down on them just to find out how they felt, but that was changing as Weiss felt herself growing sleepier. She yawned, and Ruby giggled.

"Tired Princess?"

Weiss nuzzled her face into the crook of Ruby's neck. "Hush you dunce."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Well maybe I wouldn't be if I didn't have to put the table together three different times to get it right," Weiss muttered.

"How is that my fault?" Ruby laughed. "The instructions are really weird, that's not me."

"Well you insisted you could get it right on the first try..."

Ruby kissed the top of her head. "I guess. Everything turned out alright though yeah?"

Weiss curled the sheets in her free hand, the one that wasn't entangled in Ruby's hair. They were soft. Almost too soft, the kind of soft that pulled you in and refused to let you go. The kind of soft that made you want to forget about everything and sleep in their gentle embrace for a while. Wait, was she thinking about the sheets, or Ruby?

"You wanna just sleep Weiss?"

Weiss felt her eyes grow heavy. She closed them. "If you want. Are you tired?"

"Not really," Ruby replied. "But I'll sleep with you anyway."

Weiss mustered just enough energy to lift her head and press her lips to Ruby's for a few seconds. "Then I'll sleep."

Ruby giggled, soft and quiet in the silence of the room. Their house felt like a home now.

"Sweet dreams Princess."

Weiss smiled and drifted into a comfortable slumber, her body wrapped in Ruby's arms, and her aura coiled around Ruby's own.

_Soft_.


	19. Outtake 2 - Heartbeats

Explosions rumbled from somewhere else in the facility, and the corridor Ruby was sprinting down shook as dirt and dust fell from the ceiling.

Her world was shadow and flashing light, darkness and baleful red illumination bestowed by flashing sirens mounted on the walls. Alarm klaxons and the shouts of panicking White Fang members echoed down the hallway as Ruby's fellow hunters and the Guardsmen of Vale - its combination of army and special police force - pressed their attack on Cinder's hidden base in the mountains of Vale.

She put on a burst of speed and vaulted down another reinforced stone hallway, deeper into what she could only really describe as Cinder's secret lair. She was also lost. The hallways were a maze, a twisting, confusing warren of hallways, inexplicably empty rooms, storage areas filled with stolen dust and equipment, and guard outposts strewn with the bodies of unconscious White Fang members.

They were unconscious because she had already been to - and cleared out - each room she passed. She was going in a circle, and she was at the verge of breaking down. Because Cinder had Weiss.

She took a quick turn down a ninety-degree hallway junction, kicked off the wall, and flew halfway down the tunnel before skidding to a halt in front of an open doorway. She rushed inside and Yang and Blake looked up from where a handcuffed, gagged, and blindfolded Roman Torchwick sat, among the strewn bodies of Guardsmen and White Fang.

"Ruby, what the hell! Why are you back here?" Yang shouted over the alarms. "And where's Weiss?"

Ruby hesitated, stuck halfway between talking to her sister halfway between dashing back out of the room to look for Weiss. "I-I can't find her! I don't know how this place works, I'm freaking lost! We were chasing down Cinder but then Weiss rushed ahead and this big iron door slammed down but I saw Cinder use some kind of magic and knock her out before I could do anything but I can't find her and-"

Yang stood up and gripped her by her shoulders. "Ruby, you have to calm down. The Guardsmen and the other Hunters are spreading out through the rest of the base. They'll find her."

"You don't understand!" Ruby yelled. "She took Weiss into some kind of secret passage or something, no one's gonna find it and she's gonna get away and I'm never gonna see Weiss aga-"

"Ruby!" Yang shouted. "Shut up! For the last time, calm down and _think_. If she's going to leave and take Weiss with her, she has to have an escape route."

"And the Guard already seismically mapped all the tunnels," Blake spoke up. "None of them let out of the base except the one we assaulted through, and that's guarded. So she'll have to leave by air."

"Right," Yang replied. "And that means a secret hangar or something with access to the outside of the mountain."

Ruby stopped and took a deep breath. "Okay. Alright. Calm. So if it's open to the outside of the mountain, that means we can see it from the outside too. Blake, are all the Guard gunships the second strike team came in on still in the main hangar?"

"I don't see why not," Blake mused. "They should just be in a holding pattern."

Yang grinned. "There we go, now that's a plan. Grab a gunship and fly around the mountain until you see the secret hangar. Blake, you should go with her."

The faunus shot a wary gaze at their struggling prisoner. "Are you sure you can take Torchwick if he breaks out of those restraints?"

Yang stared at the criminal mastermind, looked thoughtful for a second, and then punched him in the face. _Hard_. He collapsed backwards and let out a groaning wheeze. "Well he's unconscious now, so yeah, I think I'll be just fine. And if he wakes up I'll just knock him out again."

Blake shrugged. "Fair enough. Alright Ruby, let's go."

"Ruby, promise me one thing," Yang interjected. "If you can't find her, just come back here and meet up with me."

"I'm not leaving without Weiss," Ruby challenged.

"I get it," Yang replied, "but please just listen to me. I know you care about her but if Cinder already has her she might be long gone, and we need to secure the rest of this place before-"

"I am not. Leaving. Without Weiss," Ruby growled as she strode out of the room.

She turned on her heel without another word, unslung Crescent Rose, and started sprinting down the corridor to the main hangar She didn't even check to make sure Blake was behind her.

Several twists and turns later she burst forth into the large, open hangar made of rock and steel. One whole end of the massive space was open to the swirling mountain air, while the space further in was full of platoons of Guardsman waiting to be deployed into the fortress. Several gunships had landed, while several more still hovered, filling the air with the droning whine of their engines. She walked past the temporary barricades covering the door, nodding a quick greeting at the up-armored officers manning it.

She strode to the nearest grounded gunship, a beast of an airship with angled wings like a hawk and several vicious looking rocket and chain-gun mounts. The Guardsmen in Vale were almost like a police force, but much better armed and much more well equipped. They were called in for the big threats that the regular police couldn't handle, and they were accordingly prepared.

The pilot of the gunship, standing in the open crew compartment along with his gun crew, held up a hand in greeting.

"What can I do for you little miss Huntress!" he shouted over the engine roar of the other gunships.

"I'm not really a Huntress yet, but- whatever that doesn't matter! I need to borrow your gunship!" Ruby shouted back. Blake suddenly materialized beside her, but Ruby wasn't surprised. The faunus seemingly had the ability to vanish and appear wherever she pleased.

"Borrow my Gloria? What in the world for?" he asked. She couldn't see anything of his expression because of the tinted visor covering his eyes.

Ruby decided on honesty as the quickest solution. "It's my partner. Cinder's got her, and she's taking her to a secret hangar somewhere in this base. We can't find it from the inside quick enough, but if we fly around outside and look..."

He nodded brusquely. "I get it. And the rest of the Guard is already busy clearing out the rest of the White Fang, so you figured you had to borrow a gunship."

"Well yeah," Ruby replied. "Look, my partner is really important to me. I _have_ to find her."

"Well don't worry about that miss," the pilot replied. "Name's Tarl." He stuck out a hand, and she shook it. His grip was firm but not rough. He slapped the side of the gunship. "And this here's Gloria, my sweet mistress of the skies. She ain't ever let me down once. And these two ugly sons a' bitches are Orsk and Victor."

The two crew gunners nodded at her in turn. She smiled at them, and one of them actually smiled back.

Tarl turned to the gunners. "Let's go then boys, saddle up! Not everyday you get a special mission from a Huntress!"

Blake laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm going to see if I can't find that secret tunnel Cinder took Weiss into. Be careful."

Ruby hugged her for a quick second. "You too Blake."

Blake looked almost startled, but smiled as she turned to leave. "I'll see you and Weiss soon."

"Yeah. You will."

_"I hope,"_ Ruby thought.

With that she stepped up into the crew compartment of the gunship, a cramped space halfway between the cockpit and the engines, with two large openings on either side of the gunship. Each opening had its own dedicated chain-gun, and each chain-gun was manned by one of the crew gunners. She grabbed a hold of one of the metal rails hanging from the ceiling and braced herself as the whine of the gunship's engines grew to an ear-splitting shriek.

"Here we go," Tarl's voice crackled from the compartment's speakers. "Hold on to something!"

"I already am!" Ruby shouted back.

The gunship rose into the air faster than she was expecting, turned a full one-eighty, and shot out of the hangar and into the freezing mountain air before she had the chance to fully brace herself.

"Holy crap this thing is fast!" she shouted.

* * *

Ten minutes later they were still searching. The gunship circled the mountain in wide loops, and Ruby shivered in the freezing air blasting into the open crew compartment as wind and snow whipped her cloak and hair about in every direction.

"What if they've already taken off and we're just on the wrong side of the mountain?" Ruby shouted to Orsk, who was manning the chain-gun next to her.

"Eh, we'd have picked them up on radar! These birds have state of the art detection suites, you don't have to worry about anything getting away from us," he shouted back.

Ruby nodded and continued scanning the steep mountainside for any sign of a hangar. A depression in the snow, a wide gap in the rock, an open space, anything that could tell her where Cinder had taken Weiss. The possibility that Weiss was already gone or killed was something she wasn't considering. She _had_ to believe Weiss was alive. It was that or give in to despair.

The snow swirled into her eyes, blinding her momentarily, and she squeezed them shut. As she was brushing her eyelids clear of the snow she realized with a start that even if her eyes couldn't see anything, her senses might still be able to. She could feel Weiss' aura sometimes when they were close or when she were in danger, so maybe it would work now. She closed her eyes and shut out the sound of the engines, the howling of the wind and the sting of the whirling snow on her face. She reached deep inside herself and expanded her aura, searching for any trace of the cold blue presence that was Weiss.

She was almost overwhelmed in an instant. There were too many souls in the mountain. The aura of the White Fang defenders was colored with a bitter, burning anger and a black despair that came with knowing they would soon die. The Guardsmen burned with a motley of colors and emotions: the gold of valor, the red of rage, the silver of self-sacrifice and the noble purple of duty. So many souls, so many emotions, so many colors. Just when she thought she was going to be swallowed up in the overpowering mass of souls, she felt a familiar presence.

White mixed with blue, virtue and duty with honor and pride. And _fear_.

She snapped her eyes open, searching for the spot on the mountain where she could feel the presence the strongest. A patch of trees stood out to her. She had seen them on the first few passes around the mountain, but where they had appeared natural before this time she could see a pattern in them, as if they were man-made and artificial.

Just as she was about to tell Tarl to bring them in closer the trees started shaking. Snow fell in huge clumps from their boughs and blew around in a miniature hurricane, and Ruby's eyes widened as a jet black gunship rose from it. The thing was pure menace, vicious weapon mounts for teeth and racks of missiles for claws.

The mechanical whirr of Orsk's chain-gun spinning up snapped her out of her sudden fear. "Tarl! Ten o' clock, it's Cinder!" the gunner yelled.

"I don't see them on radar!" he replied.

"Well look with your fucking eyes then!"

"What are you talking- well fuck. They must have some sort of new stealth tech. Well they can't hide now, Gloria'll take em down! Weapons free boys!"

"Wait, Weiss is in th-"

Ruby's words were drowned out as Ork's chain-gun opened up, spraying a blinding stream of red-hot tracer rounds at the enemy gunship. The majority missed as Cinder's gunship immediately went into evasive action, but the few rounds that connected sparked and spanged off of its armor.

"Bastard's got reinforced plating too," Orsk shouted. "Gonna have to hit 'em with the big stuff boss!"

"I hear that," Tarl replied over the intercom.

"No wait, you can't!" Ruby shouted. "My partner is in there, I can feel her!"

The enemy gunship ceased its evasive maneuvers and turned to face them, and Ruby couldn't shake the sensation of being beneath the eyes of a hungry predator.

"Well sweetheart I can tell you one thing, it's either us or th-"

Shrill warning klaxons blared, cutting off the pilot and filling Ruby with a sudden terror.

"Missile lock!" Orsk yelled. "Brace yourselves!"

Tarl's voice was incredulous. "How the hell does that thing have missile lock so qui-"

The shrieking whine of incoming missiles cut off his final words, and Ruby's world dissolved into flame. The gunship broke up into several large pieces, and she was thrown out of crew the compartment and into the open air above the mountain. She didn't think; she didn't have time to. She was flipping and spinning and falling, but she still had the clarity to activate her semblance. Time slowed to a grinding halt, and suddenly she could see everything with perfect clarity.

Spinning fragments of metal spun by her in slow-motion, and the snow was spinning around her so lethargically that she could make out individual snowflakes in the morass. She twisted her head and found Cinder's gunship, still spraying rounds through the air and into the burning, falling wreckage of what had been Gloria. The rounds were moving so slowly that if she had wanted to, she could have plucked them out of the air with her hand.

She had all the time in the world now. As she fell in slow motion she extended Crescent Rose, pointed the barrel away from Cinder's gunship, and fired. Her downward momentum halted, and she could feel her stomach drop in micro-time as she was propelled towards the snarling black shark of an airship. Weiss was in there. She could feel her.

As she flew through the air she took a closer look at the gunship, looking for a weak spot or a vulnerable opening. It had two large thrusters on each wing, but they could only point up – making the gunship hover – or forward, making it fly in a straight line. The ability to turn seemed to be controlled by a swivel thruster on its tail, so that was what she aimed herself towards. The weak point.

To her, the gunship hung in mid-air. Even if the pilot had seen her survive the destruction of Gloria, she knew she was moving too fast for the human eye to track. A few more seconds passed in micro-time, and then she was close enough to the gunship to touch it. She pulled Crescent Rose back, preparing for a brutal swing with all of her weight behind it. She passed the cockpit, the wing thrusters, the main bulk, and then she was at the tail. She picked out what looked like the weakest point in its armor, grit her teeth, thought about Weiss, and swung.

She had chosen well. In slow-motion the blade of Crescent Rose sheared straight through itl, sending sparks flying and the entire tail section spinning away in the opposite direction. She knew the gunship would lose control without that thruster. But she wasn't in a good situation either. She was growing tired, her muscles felt heavy and her eyelids drooped. Sustained use of her semblance was shutting down her body, compressing all the energy she would have exerted from an hour of fighting into a scant few moments of time.

She released her semblance and time sped up. She heard a sharp whine as Cinder's gunship spun out of control and fell into a spiral of death, but all she could see was swirling white. She fell, fell, fell, and then hit the snow hard and blacked out.

* * *

She came to her senses, suddenly aware but not sure how long she had been lying there for. She dug numb fingers into the packed snow and pushed herself to her feet. Her ribs hurt, and she knew at least one was broken. That was good. Pain meant life. If you were past the point of pain you were dead already.

The world around her was nothing but swirling white. She couldn't see more than a ten feet in front of her thanks to the snowstorm, but she could still sense Weiss somewhere nearby. Her hands felt empty, and she suddenly realized why. She searched around frantically, feeling her heart thud a beat of relief when she found Crescent Rose half-buried in the snow behind her. She dug it out and picked it up, taking comfort in its familiar heft and weight.

She briefly thought of searching for Tarl, Orsk, and Victor, but she knew that she had only survived the blast because of her aura. They didn't have the luxury of a soul shield like she did, and she also knew with a bitter certainty that her actions had killed them. If she hadn't asked Tarl to hold his fire maybe they would have all survived. But then Weiss might have died. She shook her head to clear it. There would be time to feel guilty once her partner was safe.

She spun around, found the direction in which Weiss' aura was strongest, and set off through the howling gale. Adrenaline pumped through her body along with the thrill of her near-death, but her need to protect and save Weiss overrode it all.

She stumbled over a slight rise in the snow, slipped, and slid down it on her rear. She came to a halt and stood up. Flaming wreckage surrounded her, blazing pieces of black metal that flickered and cast strange shadows upon the snow. The wreckage of Cinder's gunship was in between her and Weiss. She was shivering and her hands were numb and unresponsive, but she brought Crescent Rose up in its rifle form anyway and held it in front of her. If anything jumped out, she would put a .50 caliber round right through it faster than it could blink.

With careful steps she moved through the burning chunks of Cinder's gunship: large, wrecked panels and engine fragments, some as small as her foot, some taller than her. She felt Weiss' aura draw closer and closer, but she also felt something else. Something that had taken great pains to conceal itself before, something that now blazed with a fierce black light.

Ruby knew that aura. It was Cinder. She had somehow survived.

She picked up her pace, but it was difficult because the snow swallowed her foot with every second step she took. The heat from the wreckage and the chill from the snowstorm played havoc on her body, making her sweat on one side and go numb on the other. She blinked tears out of her eyes caused by the whipping and howling wind. Then she stopped next to one of the wings of Cinder's gunship. It lay half buried in the snow like a jet-black wall. She could feel Weiss on the other side. She could also feel Cinder.

She took in a deep breath, trying to ignore the way it burned her lungs with its freezing chill. She glanced around the corner. Cinder was dragging Weiss across the snow by her hair, and the younger girl was struggling and scrabbling at the ground beneath her.

"Shut up!" Cinder screeched, barely audible over the snowstorm. "You stupid, bratty bitch! You're lucky your upstart father would pay a fortune for you, otherwise I'd end you right now!"

"Screw you!" Weiss shouted back. She looked exhausted, and Ruby could see a bruise over her left right eye. "He's not going to pay anything for me! He'll never give in to terrorists!"

Cinder stopped. Ruby held her breath, waiting for her moment. Her pounding heart wanted her to jump out from behind the wreckage and save Weiss as fast as possible, but her mind told her that would only get them both killed. Cinder was injured, but not weak. No, never weak.

"Actually, you're right." Cinder deadpanned. "Your father might not pay anything for you. If I know your father he'll put money before his family, and he can always sire another child, right?"

Cinder dropped Weiss, and the heiress gave out a sharp gasp and immediately struggled to rise. Cinder laughed and kicked her in the chest, sending her sprawling over on her side. She raised a hand and a fireball came to life in it, spinning and flickering with a baleful light.

"Seems the best thing to do is just kill you then," Cinder said. "You're just dead weight to me now."

Time seemed to stop, but it was nothing like when she was using her semblance. When she was using her semblance she had perfect clarity and vision, but right now she couldn't think.

Her brain was blank, but her muscles and nerves reacted as if on their own. She turned the corner, pivoted her waist, raised Crescent Rose, and fired. The rifle kicked into her shoulder as it had a hundred times before. It only took the space of a heartbeat.

An echoing shot drowned out the snowstorm for a split second, and then its reply was swallowed by the howling wind. Weiss had her hands over her head as if bracing for another blow. Cinder was frozen for a moment, then looked down. She moved her hand to the hole in her chest, as if expecting to still feel solid flesh. The fireball in her hand suddenly swelled and grew, and Cinder looked up at it frantically. She shrieked, and then it exploded a foot from her face and sent her flying backwards into the snow. Her aura blinked out. She was dead.

Ruby couldn't move. She had just killed someone. For the first time in her life, she had taken someone else's. No matter that it had been Cinder, no matter that the woman would have killed Weiss. A person's life was the only thing they had, and she had taken it away. She felt her knees buckle, but Weiss raised her head at that moment, and Ruby found suddenly that the only thing she could do at that moment was run to her partner.

She dropped Crescent Rose in the snow and tackled Weiss, who had just been starting to rise. The heiress shrieked and they flopped into the snow, but Ruby didn't care. She lay there in the bitter chill, holding her partner close. The older girl ceased her struggle, and Ruby buried her face in Weiss' tangled, snow-white hair. She held Weiss in like a deep breath, wishing this moment would last forever, wishing that Weiss would be safe and in her arms eternally.

"You dunce," came a gentle whisper.

Ruby just grunted and held her closer.

* * *

Later that night, Ruby stood by the window in her room at moon was bright and full and the night was peaceful.

After she had rescued Weiss, the Guardsmen had quickly found them with another gunship and delivered them back to the main group. Ozpin and the other Hunters had finished clearing the base out, and after hours upon hours of intensive questioning about the circumstances of Cinder's death, Ruby and Weiss were released back to Beacon. Blake and Yang were out and about, Weiss was slumbering peacefully in her bed, and all was calm and quiet. All that was, except for her thoughts.

She replayed the events over and over in her head. The way Weiss had laid in the snow, bracing herself for another blow from Cinder. The way the rifle had kicked into her shoulder. The feel of the stinging snow in her eyes. The look on Cinder's face right before the fireball had exploded. The dreadful shriek she had given right before she died. The crimson snow around where her body had fallen.

She had taken a life. She had killed someone. She had been in many fights before, but she had never deliberately _killed_ someone. The worst part was that it hadn't even occurred to her to try and spare Cinder. She had shot her without thinking, without hesitation, without pause. Was it because of Weiss? Was seeing Weiss in danger and the thought of a life without her snowy-haired partner the thing that had caused her to do it? She had realized that one day she would probably be forced to kill someone, but she had always thought it would have been after long, careful deliberation, weighing the choices and consequences.

But when the moment had come there had been nothing. She had simply raised Crescent Rose and pulled the trigger. Ended a life. Just like that.

Her thoughts spiraled in on themselves, leading further and further down. Could she have saved Weiss and still spared Cinder? Was she a murderer? Was she a terrible person? Could she think about herself the same way anymore? She had joined Beacon Academy to become a huntress and save lives, not end them. Her palms were sweating and her stomach felt upset. She leaned forward and braced herself on the window-frame. Pale moonlight shone down on the courtyard and trees below, and she wondered if she would ever be able to sleep peacefully again.

"Hey," came a voice from behind her.

She turned, startled, and found Weiss standing a few feet away in her pale blue nightgown.

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Eh heh, hey Weiss! What uh... what are you doing up so late?"

The heiress joined her by the windowsill, leaning against it and gazing out at the courtyard below. "I couldn't sleep."

"Wha? But you were sleeping pretty soundly a few minutes ago."

"Obviously because I wanted to make it look like I was asleep," Weiss scoffed. "Anyway, stop trying to turn this on me. You're the one sitting here looking so glum and morose."

"Glum and..."

"Morose," Weiss explained. "It means downcast and thoughtful. Sad."

"Ah," Ruby replied. "Yeah, I guess. I dunno, I've just got a lot on my mind tonight."

"About what happened?"

Ruby leaned forward and flexed her grip on the windowsill. The wood was cool to the touch. "Yeah. I keep thinking about the crew of the gunship that helped me. Tarl, Orsk, Viktor, they were really good people. And I got them killed. And then what happened after... I just... I don't really know how to talk about it. Or even if it should be talked about it. I... I killed someone. Weiss, I actually killed someone."

Weiss glanced at her. "It's not like you didn't have a good reason," she mumbled. "And besides, some people deserve death Ruby. The world is a far better place without people like her, if you can even call her a person after all she had done."

"It's not that simple to me," Ruby groaned. "To me she was still a person. Sure she had lost her way and all that and done some horrible, horrible things, but everyone deserves a second chance right? I took that from her. All we have is one life to do our best with, so we can live and love and experience things. I think maybe she could have changed. But not anymore. I took her second chance. Or third, or whatever it was."

Weiss laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and turned her so that they were facing eachother. The white-haired woman stared dead into her eyes, and Ruby could see the determination and drive that had brought her this far.

"Ruby, listen to me. Those men knew the risks when they joined up with the Guard. Trust me, they wouldn't want you to feel sad about them. And... the only reason I can't sleep is because I'm trying not to think about how close I came to dying today. If you had been a second later it would all be over for me too, instead of just her. If you had hesitated just a second longer I..." Weiss trailed off, staring down at the floor.

"I wouldn't be here talking to you right now. You saved my life Ruby. You saved my life by ending _hers_. I don't know if one life is a fair trade for another, but I can only hope I'm worth more to you than she was."

Ruby couldn't help but follow the path of her words, couldn't help but imagine what this night would be like if she _had _hesitated. A empty room and a cold night alone. Never hearing her voice again, never seeing her smile, never talking to her or feeling her touch or...

She lunged forward and pulled Weiss into a tight embrace, overwhelmed by the simple need to be close to her. Her heart was pounding away in her chest and a strange warm feeling suffused her body, spreading from her chest to her arms and legs. This closeness with Weiss was almost overpowering, and she took a deep breath to try and hold the moment in. In the back of her head she realized that the feelings she had for her partner weren't normal, that they went far beyond what she was supposed to feel for a close friend. In that moment though, she didn't care.

"You mean so much more than she did," Ruby whispered, struggling to get the words out. "You mean so much more to me than anyone ever has. Please don't talk about not being here. It hurts to think about."

Weiss brought her arms up slowly and returned the embrace, then leaned in and rested her head on Ruby's shoulder. "Okay. Okay you dolt, I won't. And... thank you. Thank you for saving my life."

"It was nothing," Ruby muttered back. "I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

* * *

"A heartbeat? Really?" Weiss muttered.

Ruby giggled and pulled her girlfriend of almost five years closer against her chest, snuggling in with her on the couch in the living room of their home in Terser. "Yeah, I know. Pretty cheesy."

"I just can't believe you remember what you said back then."

"I remember pretty much every big conversation we have," Ruby replied. "I try real hard to remember them so I can replay them whenever I'm alone."

"I supposed I should feel flattered," Weiss deadpanned. She shifted and pulled her t-shirt down; the only thing she had on below it was a pair of white lace panties. "And you've certainly grown more used to... well, killing. How many times have you saved my life now?"

"Oh who knows, a few dozen probably. There was that first time with Cinder, then that assassin after you because of your family, then that Beowulf pack in the Emerald Forest, then that Ursa with the missing arm that you thought would be an easy fight, ooh, then there was that rabbit faunus in the theater back in Vale, and then there was that-"

Weiss twisted her head around and cut her off with her lips, pressing their mouths together in a forceful kiss. "Shut up you dunce," she whispered when she broke it off.

Ruby didn't reply, but instead pulled her girlfriend back in for another kiss. She wanted more. After recalling how many times she and Weiss had nearly died, she _needed_ more. She grasped Weiss' hips and flipped her around so that they were facing eachother, Ruby with her back to the couch and Weiss pressed up against her. She probed gently with her tongue, and Weiss' lips parted for her after only a second of hesitation. Their tongues swirled and danced around eachother, and Ruby breathed in through her nose and gripped the back of her partner's head. Weiss tilted it to the side and circled an arm around her neck, and they were so close in that moment that Ruby's heart felt like it might burst. Being with Weiss like this, being this close and intimate with her made her_ so_ happy, happier than anything else did.

They had saved eachother's lives many times over the years, and the peril of it all only made her want to hold Weiss as close as possible for as long as possible. Their job put them in danger, _was_ danger; their calling as huntresses had them risking their lives for others on a daily basis. It only made moments like these so much more precious. Ruby held on to each and every one of them as long as she could.

Weiss moaned gently and pulled her tongue back, inviting Ruby in. She eagerly accepted, plunging her own tongue into the open space of Weiss' mouth and licking and exploring as she pleased. The former heiress gripped the back of her neck and held tightly as Ruby claimed the former heiress' mouth as her own. At the same time Ruby slid her hand downwards, trailing her fingernails down her partner's stomach and stopping at her waistline. She broke the kiss for a split-second, just long enough to ask: "May I?"

Weiss nodded quickly, but then pushed forward and connected their lips again, like she couldn't bear to be apart for any longer than was necessary. Ruby could feel Weiss' heart thumping, and at the same time she felt their auras twist and overlap against eachother as they had so many times before. It was just as powerful and warm as the first time. She slid her hand into Weiss' panties and massaged her gently, moving in soft, slow circles as they continued to kiss. Weiss' moans changed to a higher pitch, becoming hitched and breathless as Ruby worked her hand just the way her partner liked it.

"N-Not fair," Weiss hissed, breaking the kiss for a breath. "You too."

The snowy-haired woman reached down and pulled her pajama pants off of her waist and down to her thighs, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. She hadn't been wearing anything underneath. The former heiress started rubbing her as well, cradling the back of Ruby's neck with one hand and massaging her sensitive center with another. Ruby felt a rush of pleasure that built like a wave, but instead of breaking kept building and building and building. It only got more intense as Weiss continued rubbing her. She was struggling to keep her end of the kiss up, but she did her best anyway, circling her tongue around the inside of Weiss' hot, wet mouth. Even harder was the effort involved in keeping her hand rubbing Weiss' slick womanhood in just the right way, but she somehow managed that too. Every time she drew back for a quick breath a strand of saliva hung in between them, but it was swallowed up when their lips inevitably came back together.

Weiss rubbed her in the perfect spot in the perfect way, and she squealed into the kiss and bucked her hips. She tangled her legs together with Weiss', crossing them and pulling her even closer. They rubbed and kissed and breathed and moaned, and after only a minute or two - she couldn't be sure of anything that wasn't the touch of Weiss' fingers - Ruby could feel the wave of pleasure about to break.

"Weiss," she gasped, "I'm gonna- gonna-"

"Not yet," Weiss breathed, "just hold on for just a second... okay, y-you can-"

Ruby squealed and let herself go, and the wave of pleasure crashed down and washed over her mind, whiting it out with sheer bliss. Her legs jerked against Weiss' own, and she didn't know how she was able to keep her tongue working and dancing with her partner's. For a few seconds Weiss was the only thing in existence; Weiss was her world. The warmth and softness of her skin, the heat of her touch, the smell of her sweat and the sound of her breath. Weiss was everything, and Weiss was hers.

She rode the high out until it let her down, and then she found herself face to face with a very heavily-breathing Weiss. She mustered the strength needed to lean forward and kiss her.

"That was... that was nice," she breathed when she drew back.

Weiss only nodded, then leaned forward and rested her head in the crook of Ruby's neck. Both of them were sweaty and hot with exertion, but Ruby didn't care, and her partner didn't seem to either.

They gasped and caught their breath for a few seconds, tangling their hands in eachother's hair and reveling in the intimacy of it all. Ruby could feel Weiss' pleasure as her own through their combined aura, and it only deepened the love she felt for the other woman.

Ruby tried speaking in a hoarse whisper. "Do you wanna try and make it to the bed or do you wanna just..."

"Here is fine," Weiss mumbled into her neck, tickling the skin with her still-wet lips.

Ruby giggled. She pulled her pajama pants back up, but one of Weiss' hands stayed down there, resting on her hip.

"Okay, we'll sleep here then. I've got to go in the morning anyway. Yang needed help with that hunt, and someone has to watch the house..."

"I know," Weiss sighed. "I'll wake up early with you and cook breakfast."

"That sounds wonderful." Ruby buried her face in Weiss' too-soft hair and took a deep breath. "Are you gonna miss me?"

"Dunce," came the reply. "Of course I will."

Ruby snorted. "I love you_uuu~_"

"I love you too," Weiss mumbled. "Now shut up and go to sleep. You're all hot and sweaty, and it's gross."

She couldn't help but notice that even as Weiss complained about the current state of her body, she pulled herself a little closer to it anyway.

"Such a needy little princess," Ruby chuckled.

"Call me needy one more time and I'll-"

"You'll what," Ruby interrupted, "make me sleep on the couch?"

Weiss sighed long and hard. "Yes. Fine. You win. Now _sleep_."

"One second," Ruby replied. She shifted downwards so that her head was pressed against Weiss' chest, then shifted their tangled legs into a slightly more comfortable position.

"Dolt, what are you doing down there?" Weiss whispered.

Ruby smiled and leaned into her. "Nothing. Just listening to your heartbeat is all. It helps me sleep."

_Bump-bump._

_Bump-bump._

"You're such an idiot sometimes," Weiss sighed, but Ruby could almost hear the blush in her voice. "Can you sleep now?"

"Yeah."

She would have to leave in the morning, and wouldn't see Weiss for almost a week. But that was in the morning. So for now she held her close, breathed in her fragrance, and listened to her heartbeat.

_Bump-bump._

"I can sleep just fine now."


End file.
